Do What You Love

It seems as if every adult in the world has advice to pass on to our generation: don’t waste time in college, make the most of your experiences, make sure you find a job that you actually want.

This “do what you love” speech has been reiterated countless times, and we’ve all heard it before.

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While the advice is meant to be supportive, and we’re told to take it because it’s coming from someone with more “experience” than we have, it’s frustrating and adds stress to an already stressful situation.

Why’s that?

Because we have literally no clue what we’re doing, let alone what we love.

There’s a reason that so many students go into college undeclared. At 18 years old, we shouldn’t have to decide what we want to do for the rest of our lives.

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The point of college is to test the waters, to take introductory classes we’ll inevitably hate three weeks in, to end up loving that gen-ed you didn’t want to take in the first place, to switch our major senior year because it took us the full four years to finally figure out what we want.

It’s an expensive lesson, but we’re going to learn it – with or without the wiser generation’s advice.

My Advice For Freshman

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So as a new way to look at the college experience, no freshman should have to go in with pressure to decide what exactly their occupation is going to be four years down the line, because the truth is, they have no idea what they love. They just left high school, which they most certainly didn’t love.

While it’s probably in our best interest to enter college with a vague idea as to what field we want to go into, that should be the extent of it.

This is the year to have broad ambitions, to say “I’m going to take some science classes this year,” or “I’ve always wanted to take a creative writing class” and then to act on those impulses.

Freshman year is where you knock out some gen-eds, and maybe take a few core classes that interest you. By the end of the year, you’ll have a good idea as to what you want to do for the next few years. And if not, at least you ruled out a few paths in the process.

My Advice for Sophomores

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Sophomore year needs to be a little more narrow in scope. The goal for the end of this year is simple: have a path to follow for the next few years.

This doesn’t mean that you have to outline your future occupation, but rather, that you need to have your general field picked out.

So if you’re interested in history, pick up the major. You don’t need to decide then and there you want to be a historian, or a teacher, or a museum curator, but you now have a path through which you can decide what you want to do over the course of the next two years.

Enjoying those gender and women’s studies courses, but not enough to declare it your major? Keep exploring, but consider picking up that minor, as it can always bulk up your resume later on.

Sophomore year is all about analyzing what you’re doing and how you feel about it, and by the end of this year, you should have a general idea of what field is calling out to you.

My Advice for Juniors

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Junior year is typically when panic starts to seep in. Maybe your friends have already decided their occupational goals, or are perhaps graduating early or just feel much more confident in their college career than you do.

Take a deep breath, step back and think about it.

By this point, yes, you should have your major picked out. But stressing out about it isn’t going to help you.

If you still aren’t sure what you want to do, sitting back and doing nothing is a mistake. Go talk to your advisors, take a few more classes than you usually would, look into some online courses, go to the job fair to browse.

Be as active as possible junior year. That being said, don’t be desperate either.

If you picked a major freshman year and have just learned it isn’t your path, don’t force yourself to continue down it. Talk to an advisor, think of a plan of attack, and take it. While “do what you love” is our least favorite advice, this is where it really comes into play.

Junior year is all about you – how you feel, how you want to feel and how you think you will feel years from now. If your gut is telling you something, listen to it. Just because you’re this far in doesn’t mean you’re out of options. That’s the great thing about college: there are more options than you have time to choose.

My Advice for Seniors

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And finally, there’s senior year.

Senior year is all about that job. Many college students make the mistake of believing they’re going to get their dream job right out of school. For some of you, maybe. For almost everyone, I’m going to go ahead and shoot that down right now.

No entry-level job is going to be your dream job, and the sooner you come to terms with that, the better.

Senior year is when you pick your career goal, and you begin taking the necessary steps to get there. If that means continued education, start studying for the GRE. If that means applying to jobs immediately, look for jobs in your field, and be open to the possibility it’s not going to be exactly what you want.

Holding out for a management position isn’t going to be in your best interest (although I applaud you for aiming high).

So spend your senior year wisely, evaluate your goals and understand that this is just the beginning, you have plenty of time to get where you need to be in the years to come.

College is so many things — easy is not one of them. So don’t waste time. You’re there to get a job, and it’s a journey, but in the end, so long as you follow this advice, you’re going to be exactly where you want to be.

And as we’ve heard over and over and over again: “do what you love.”