Dear 19-year-old self,

Do. Not. Stress. I know you. You are sitting in a coffee shop in your college town questioning everything. Questioning your major. Questioning your future career path. Questioning life after graduation. Questioning who you are as an individual.

Don’t get me wrong… your first year at college was a blast! As always, you connected with a lot of people, joined student organizations that kept you running from meeting to meeting, excelled in your academic classes, and became an assistant producer and news reporter for your campus television station. Balancing work and life has always been a strong point of yours.

But lately, I don’t think you’ve enjoyed much of anything. You are starting to realize that you aren’t fit to be a reporter and you certainly feel bogged down by an 18-credit course load of classes you don’t enjoy. And you’re at the point in your college career where you feel like you need to switch your field of study. So what’s next? It isn’t like you to not have a plan.

Your head tells you to continue pursuing the path to becoming a journalist, a dream since you were 12, while your heart says it is time to find a career that you’ll enjoy.

I want you to remember that whichever path you choose, it is not set in stone. You will figure it out. And believe me, it all works out.

There are endless career opportunities that are fit for you and your strengths, and as a sophomore in college, who says you need to pick one right now?

My advice to you is to enjoy yourself as a 19-year-old college sophomore. If you don’t like what you are doing, then try something new. If you want to pursue a new hobby, then go for it.

At 19, there is so much to learn about yourself. You can learn about what kinds of movements you support and you can discover your visions and goals for the future. Get on with exploring those and keep growing as a classmate, student, peer, individual, and mentor. Enjoy the last year of being a teenager and the limbo into being a legal adult.

Trust me, once you enter your twenties, you’ll be wishing you didn’t have nearly as many responsibilities(though there are perks).

Try to not grow up too fast; it’s fun being a kid. You’ll eventually learn that life doesn’t work out according to your plan, and that’s okay. Remember this: “There is only one time that is important – Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power" ~Leo Tolstoy.

Yours truly,

Your Future Self – successful and happy with your career and personal life at the age of 22