Advice about college decisions

         I was talking to my cousin the other night about colleges and career choices and the dreams you set as a kid. She is a sophomore in high school and she told me that she has been stressing about it like crazy. When she told me that I thought "why is she stressing about that? She is only a sophomore??" But that's the thing, we have put a huge pressure on high schoolers to know exactly what they want to be and what they want to do and who they are right when they graduate that it becomes so overwhelming. The thing is, we DO NOT have to know all those things right when we graduate. Learning is something we will be doing every day until we die and if we knew every single thing about ourselves, what's the point in living? I can tell you 100% that I learned SOOO many new things about myself this year that I wouldn't have learned if I didn't go through all the things that I did. We learn about ourselves in good times and in bad, in stressful and peaceful times. So why are we putting such a pressure on knowing where we want to go or do? We're still kids and we are still learning and that's reality. Also, when looking at college's sometimes people have been set on what they want to do for maybe there whole lives and then you get to where you have to make a decision and you start questioning yourself. As for me, I questioned myself about going to school for singing and acting and I became so pressured that I talked myself out of it. And while I will love teaching, it will always be something that I will regret. Lastly, another thing isn't just knowing what we want to do with our lives but with just going to college in general. Not going to college is so frowned upon right now. College is not for everyone and not everyone can afford it. You can still become successful and happy without going. 

           So my advice for anyone in this position would be to think about what will make you happy. What can you see yourself doing everyday? Go to college or don't go to college. It's your choice. But live life, have fun, make mistakes, take adventures, and be spontaneous. And if you have a dream, go for it. Because if you think about it, you have 50% people, who are going to decide against it and you have another 50% who are going to go for it. So you have already beat 50% of people. Build confidence in yourself and try as hard as you can and you can achieve anything. My favorite saying is "a bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on it's own wings. Always believe in yourself." 

"And though the road is long, I look up to the sky,

and in the dark I found, I lost hope that I won't fly

And I sing along, And I sing along, and I sing along."

"Flashlight" by Jessie J