Life after College
My advice... simply, follow you heart. Do what creates a fire in you, something
that makes your eyes light up just thinking about it. But most of all do what
feels perfect to you, not what others think you should do or be. Because in
the end, you are the one who is going to have to live with your decision for
the rest of you life.
“Life after College”—those three words are the
scariest a college student will ever hear. I’d always thought
that deciding where to go to college would be the hardest decision
I’d ever
have to make. I finally made that decision and it turned out to be
the easiest I’d ever made.
Then it hit me that I had to decide what I wanted to do with my life.
When you are little, you always say “When I grow up….”and
usually I finished that statement with a variety of things. Answers ranged
from music producer to firewoman. But when I got to college, I knew that I
had to fill in that question with a permanent answer because suddenly it seemed
that I was grown up. The only thing I knew for certain was that I wanted to
help people and make a difference in people’s lives.
When I was in high school everyone would always ask me what I planned to do
after college. When I answered with “I’m not sure yet,” they
would always give me a funny, confused look like you are supposed to know,
and they’d shake their heads and walk away. Finally, I tired of the pitying
looks and begin to say that I planned to go to Med School because I thought
that was what they wanted to hear. I knew deep down that my heart really wasn’t
in.
So I came to Chapel Hill saying I was going to be a doctor, but I knew that
it wasn’t what I wanted, that it wasn’t my passion. During my first
semester at Chapel Hill, on a whim I signed up for a Political Science first
year seminar on Conflict Resolution. (You should take a first year seminar;
they are amazing.) I loved the class, the material, and my professor. Everything
just made sense to me. I’ve always been interested in government and
toyed with the idea of pursing politics, but I just didn’t think a career
in it was feasible. I guess I kind of figured I was like every other little
kid who dreamed of being president one day. To be fair, I was just a little
bit afraid of how right it felt. I decided to try one more class, Intro to
American Government, before I made any decisions. The next class was even better
than the first. I’d finally found the thing I was meant to do.
Halfway through my second semester, I declared myself a Political Science
major. All the pieces started falling into place. I decided to go to Law School
after undergrad and specialize in Public Interest Law. I’d love to work
in Tribal law because I see that as a way to help my people, the one thing
I’ve always known I wanted to do. I plan to break into the political
arena at some point whether it be as a consultant, a politician, or a job in
a major policy think tank.
My advice to anyone who is trying to decide on a major or just life after
college is simply, follow you heart. Do what creates a fire in you, something
that makes your eyes light up just thinking about it. But most of all do what
feels perfect to you, not what others think you should do or be. Because in
the end, you are the one who is going to have to live with your decision for
the rest of you life.
