By the end of col­lege, they say you’re sup­posed to have some sort of direc­tion you’re going in life. Well, news­flash, I don’t.

I’ve heard the same thing repeated my entire life. In ele­men­tary school we could be what­ever we wanted. In mid­dle school we could still be what­ever we wanted. In high school we didn’t have to pick a career yet, we just had to get into a good school. Even in col­lege after chang­ing my major numer­ous times I was always told it was all right, I still had time.

But now time’s up and grad­u­a­tion is just days away. You’re sup­posed to at least know what type of job you want by now, and yet, I have no clue.

Maybe it’s because I grad­u­ated in three years. Maybe it’s because on all of those ridicu­lous career tests they made me take in high school my pie charts always came back equally cut among all career paths. I really have no idea, but what I do know is that it’s the end of my under­grad­u­ate career and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

I’d like to think I’ve taken advan­tage of my time here at Ferris. I’ve had the priv­i­lege of work­ing for the Torch and ris­ing in the ranks to an edi­tor posi­tion. I’ve also had the honor of liv­ing, meet­ing, vol­un­teer­ing, and work­ing with some of the best peo­ple I know. But what have I learned?

One thing I’ve learned is that noth­ing is set in stone. Life is dynamic and it really is what you make it. Relationships change, and so do careers and classes and the menu at the Rock. Whether you like change or not, which I gen­er­ally don’t, you have to roll with it and make the best of each oppor­tu­nity that presents itself.

I’ve faced hard­ship at Ferris, but through that I’ve always learned how to be a stronger per­son. What I think is more impor­tant though is that I’ve learned to let oth­ers in through those hard times. Whether it be those few pro­fes­sors, that one hall direc­tor, those cer­tain advi­sors, or those dang mentees of mine, I have learned that there really are peo­ple that will care about me no mat­ter where I go and what deci­sions I make.

Those peo­ple taught me to love myself and be open about who I am, and with that has come so much good. I love who I’ve grown to be, and I owe that pos­i­tive out­look to those peo­ple, you all know who you are, at Ferris who looked at me and saw some­thing great. Those peo­ple that accepted the good with the bad, the crazy with the sophis­ti­cated, and the tears with the smiles.

So through all of that, where exactly am I going? The truth is, I just don’t know. What I do know is this: no mat­ter where I go in life I will carry this place in my heart. Even though I haven’t always been the biggest fan of Ferris, I am the biggest fan of how enriched I have become here as a per­son. The expe­ri­ences I’ve had here have shaped me, strength­ened me, and got me to this next unknown phase.

So as I squeeze the final drops out of what the sponge that is Ferris has to offer me over these last few days, I am happy. Happy and ter­ri­fied. Happy to know that I took full advan­tage of each oppor­tu­nity I had here, and ter­ri­fied of not know­ing where my next sponge is located. n