By Leah London
At one point or another, every young adult is faced with a future. In my case, my future screams “go to college”—to the University of South Carolina, to be exact. I’ve been preparing for years, and now that I’ve finally reached the first major goal on my imaginary Life Checklist, I find myself worried and confused.
I think at some point or another, every person goes through this kind of apprehension and fear of the unknown future, regardless of his or her age. This type of anxiety is not exclusive to teenagers who may or may not be prepared to enter a competitive world. Someone who has an interview for a new job might experience this anxiety. It’s something that we, as normal people, can experience on the daily.
I suppose I’m both excited and nervous to start this new chapter of my life, and I’m sure there are others out there like me who feel the same. Here’s one thing about life: it moves on, whether you’re prepared or not. For my case, the most I can do now is keep my grades up and hope I receive scholarships that will help me reach the rest of the goals on my Life Checklist.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s that change is scary. The future is scary—but it’s not always bad. Sometimes we need to take small leaps of faith to go where we want to go in life, and that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that.
My journey to university has only begun. I may be nervous to find out what my future holds for me, but at the same time, I’m optimistic. I’m sure I’ll end up homesick on more than one occasion, but I know nothing will compare to the insurmountable amount of knowledge and experience the future will help me gain. I’m headed off to a new place to discover even more of myself than ever before, and for that, I’m ready.
