I am two months away from walking onto a big stage to formally end my college career and I’m terrified. My apologies if that was too forward. Usually I start my blogs off with some background information on what I’m writing about or I ease readers in with some type of bold, interesting statement. I guess some might consider my first sentence to be pretty bold. But the fact that I’m worried about starting my life outside of school isn’t anything groundbreaking. 

People are transitioning to new stages of their life all the time. Whether that be starting or ending a relationship. Beginning a new job. Having kids. Moving. The list goes on because there are endless ways to evolve as a person; but when you accomplish something that’s been years in the making, processing that the goal is almost accomplished takes a little more time to get over. When my mom dropped me off at my nicely-sized, co-occupied piece of freedom, it felt like a big moment. Even though I was only a little over an hour away, I had enough space to do whatever I wanted and truly figure out the person I wanted to be when those four years were up.

In that time I switched majors, made friends, dropped classes, studied abroad, lost friends, made a lot of mistakes, drank a little too much at times and realized the type of life I want to live as I get older; which is a life that doesn’t always match the people around me. Those four years went by a lot faster than expected, like time always seems to do and I’m reaching this crossroad where I’m becoming more aware of how little I want to be forced into a life of normalcy. You’re most likely rolling your eyes at this point thinking “Marcel all young people think that and as soon as those bills pile up, you’ll understand why people opt for security instead of going out into the unknown.” 

And I could agree with most people’s worries. College wasn’t an easy financial path to cross and I don’t expect it to get any easier as I leave the world of refund checks and loans but I don’t want my life to just be work, eat, sleep then die in like 60 years. I’m definitely striving for a career in radio and writing where I can entertain, inform and even inspire others to follow their goals but that takes time and within the hours of dedication, I could easily lose sight on why I’m working so hard on this goal that millions around the world have. I’m thinking of this post as a promise to myself to not forgot the experiences these past four years have shown me. 

Some of the best moments of my life were where I pushed past my comfort zone to experience something new, traveled or met someone that interrupted how I lived life. I want to follow my passions in life because observing the people closet to me have shown me when you follow the safe or expected plan, you end up wondering what would’ve happened if you believed in your ability to go for what you really wanted to do in life. I don’t expect any of this to be easy or quick but life seems way too short to not truly live every moment of it. 

So from one 21 year old who probably only knows like a fourth of the information needed to get through life, here are a few suggestions: If you hate the job you’re in right now, find what you’d love to do and work toward that. Toxic people in your life? Get rid of them, your mind will thank you later. Have dreams to see the world, get married, own a business? Make strides toward those dreams, turn them into goals and remember most things that are worth something, take time and hard work. I can guarantee I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know but I feel like sometimes we all need to be reminded that we can do whatever we want with the right mindset. 

On that note I’m going to try to not stress my brain out with worrying about the future and try to live as honest and free as possible. Wish me luck. 

Good Luck Charlie…Bad joke, I’m sorry I’ll stop writing now.