A Letter to the CG Underclassmen

Seniors+hold+up+their+college+admission+letters.

Seniors hold up their college admission letters.

Darby Horsman, Staff Writer

Dear Underclassmen,

You may feel the pressure is stacked against you. Many of you may experience high expectations from your parents, peers and society because they anticipate you to have a perfectly planned out future with things such as an high GPA, a respectable college, a high paying job and a stable family within your future. I just want to let you know, from a senior’s perspective, that you are completely free and capable of choosing what you want to do with your life.

At the beginning of my high school career, all I worried about was how I needed to choose a “successful and realistic” career, but now I started to realize that it is more than just finding a high paying career, but an all around learning experience and the happiness that you want in life.

Throughout high school I was always unsure about what I truly wanted to pursue. I knew by junior year that I wanted to be a part of Performing and Musical Theatre, but I had always been told by society that it would not provide a liveable income. With this in mind, I decided I would have to choose a major I was not passionate about, and I had to tell myself that this was the best decision for my family and me.

For you current students you might feel this same exact pressure that I faced, but my advice to help combat this, is to take time in high school to explore other electives. Instead of taking all AP classes, why not try to take ceramics or mythology. Make sure to use your resources to find a new hobby you enjoy. Center Grove has tons of current and new electives to adventure into.

A single college course could cost up to $2000, but instead of first starting a course at the university and paying a large sum of money. You can always give a course a shot here at the high school. It will end up being free and you can always have the opportunity to swap classes if you don’t like it. High school should not be all about high GPAs and grades but it can also be about making sure you find something you truly love.

In the United States, the top five pursued college degrees are Business, Nursing, Psychology, Biology and Engineering. Subsequently, these are the majors that most of society expected me to follow because there was a preconceived notion that they would pay a steady income and help provide me with a long term job. Although these careers have the ability to provide a stable future, these did not satisfy my craving for what I was truly passionate about.

I knew I had to figure out a solution to my dilemma quickly. I did everything I could to try to convince myself going into one of the top five college degrees was best for myself, but all that did was stress me out even more. I started to panic about what my future would look like, but I knew I had to settle down and think through my choices. Of course, the pressure is high but I came to the conclusion that I had to follow my passion.
Some people may take all four years of business classes and love it, while others may take it and not have a single care in the world about business. The only reason they may take it is because of the pressure they recieve from their parents. As a high school student you know what you want to achieve in life. You are old enough to make those decisions by yourself, do not let anyone else determine what your passions are.

I believe that every student will go through this obstacle of deciding on what they want to do in their future. Some kids will go into the more “practical” majors and others will pursue a more non-traditional career path. This is something that we, as students, should help support each other through. This can be very tough, and society may deter others from following their dreams.

High school is about trial and error and now is the perfect time to explore your passions. There is no doubt about it that you will experience failure but you always receive great accomplishments. As long as you put yourself out there you stay in the game and will learn great lessons from your time in high school.

For me, I knew a non-traditional major was the correct path. I knew that it would be a big risk, but as long as I worked hard and took advantage of my strengths it would go in the right direction. Even though it was a hard choice to stray away from the social norm, I had to go that route.

Those of you who are struggling to decide what you want in your future, don’t forget that you have people who will always support you. You have peers and teachers to always encourage and guide you through the process, and you should always support others in the journey we are all about to take in the future. It may be a tough decision, but always remember, your happiness and well-being come first because you are not here for your parents or society’s plan. You are here for your own dreams.

Sincerely,
A Former Senior

 

For a Freshman perspective click here.