Life Changes Are OK
It's 12:13am on September 7th. In less than 24 hours, I will be 21 years old -- an age that is glorified, dramatized, and "over-rated," in some people's eyes. For years, I have said, "OMG, I can't wait to be 21. Ugh! There's so many things I can't do!!" But, being 24 hours from 21, I now realize how wrong my younger self was.
I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.
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362 days ago, I wrote the words you just read. 362 days ago, I was in the peak of my college career. 362 days later, I realize that life could not have gotten better than it was on that date: September 7, 2018.
Even though I had absolutely no idea where I was going to be a year from that day, I didn't think it would be this.
362 days later, and in 3 days I turn 22. 22. An age that is irrelevant (of course, besides Taylor's infamous jingle). An age where I thought that I'd be enrolled in law school and surviving off of ramen noodles every night for dinner because I'd be so dirt poor that I'd be living in a literal shack in the city.
That is not the case.
It's 10:22am on September 5th, and I didn't complete the post I started writing a year ago before I turned 21 because I fell asleep. A post that was never finished because I became too busy in the coming days, weeks, and months. I took those months for granted.
My 21-year-old life was quite frankly one of the best years I've had so far, closely following the year I was 18. As I lay here a week before I successfully complete another year of my life, I think about why I say this.
If you know me, you've heard me say a million times that college was the best time of my life. I absolutely thrived. They always tell you that time passes too quickly and that you will never have the same fun you did in college because your friends won't be just a walk down the hallway and decent food won't be as easy to get as just walking up and swiping your student ID.
After lasting the entire summer as an "adult," I can officially say that college was indeed taken for granted.
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I set up my entire life to go to law school. Everyone knew that I wanted to go to law school since I was in 8th grade. I took every law-related class in high school and in college. I joined every pre-law club, went to every law school expo, attended multiple law school prep events in DC, visited numerous campuses, and even took the LSAT once after spending hundreds of dollars on books.
And here I sit today, not in law school.
When I made the decision to take a year off after graduating from High Point, I was disappointed in myself but knew it was for the best, especially since my beloved pre-law advisors were telling me that I would be entirely too overwhelmed by my senior year responsibilities to take the time to apply to law schools that I was aiming to get into.
Thank GOD I took someone's advice for once.
Then, I decided against law school completely - I thought I was disappointed in myself before, but this hit a whole new level. The embarrassment and failure that I felt when I knew that this was no longer in my best interest truly crushed me because I knew that when people found out, they'd question me about it. Sadly, this was indeed the case.
But now, a few months after making this decision, I realize that those opinions don't matter. I'm doing what's best for me and that's that. Is it different than what I had always imagined? Yes, absolutely, but plans change.
So...what am I doing?
I realized that law school wasn't the end goal because I wanted to be a lawyer - it was the end goal because I thought it would be the best route to help me help others. I've always been fascinated by the political realm because I can see the actual effects on people's lives, and I figured law school would be a great way to propel me into that political arena.
When I ran for student body president, I wanted to dedicate every moment I spent awake to that role because I knew that is what I signed up to do. That is when I first made the decision to take a year off before continuing my education, and I was okay with that decision at the time because I knew it's what I needed to do.
As I then started thinking about what I was going to do in my year off, every single paralegal job ad I looked at made my head spin. None of them appealed to me. Instead, I spent hours scouring the job postings on the House and Senate platforms, where I was much more fascinated by the job descriptions, and in fact, a little excited to fill out every job application known to man between the months of January-April as it pertained to the political realm.
I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.
______________________________________________________________________________
362 days ago, I wrote the words you just read. 362 days ago, I was in the peak of my college career. 362 days later, I realize that life could not have gotten better than it was on that date: September 7, 2018.
Even though I had absolutely no idea where I was going to be a year from that day, I didn't think it would be this.
362 days later, and in 3 days I turn 22. 22. An age that is irrelevant (of course, besides Taylor's infamous jingle). An age where I thought that I'd be enrolled in law school and surviving off of ramen noodles every night for dinner because I'd be so dirt poor that I'd be living in a literal shack in the city.
That is not the case.
It's 10:22am on September 5th, and I didn't complete the post I started writing a year ago before I turned 21 because I fell asleep. A post that was never finished because I became too busy in the coming days, weeks, and months. I took those months for granted.
My 21-year-old life was quite frankly one of the best years I've had so far, closely following the year I was 18. As I lay here a week before I successfully complete another year of my life, I think about why I say this.
If you know me, you've heard me say a million times that college was the best time of my life. I absolutely thrived. They always tell you that time passes too quickly and that you will never have the same fun you did in college because your friends won't be just a walk down the hallway and decent food won't be as easy to get as just walking up and swiping your student ID.
After lasting the entire summer as an "adult," I can officially say that college was indeed taken for granted.
____________________________________________________________________________
I set up my entire life to go to law school. Everyone knew that I wanted to go to law school since I was in 8th grade. I took every law-related class in high school and in college. I joined every pre-law club, went to every law school expo, attended multiple law school prep events in DC, visited numerous campuses, and even took the LSAT once after spending hundreds of dollars on books.
And here I sit today, not in law school.
When I made the decision to take a year off after graduating from High Point, I was disappointed in myself but knew it was for the best, especially since my beloved pre-law advisors were telling me that I would be entirely too overwhelmed by my senior year responsibilities to take the time to apply to law schools that I was aiming to get into.
Thank GOD I took someone's advice for once.
Then, I decided against law school completely - I thought I was disappointed in myself before, but this hit a whole new level. The embarrassment and failure that I felt when I knew that this was no longer in my best interest truly crushed me because I knew that when people found out, they'd question me about it. Sadly, this was indeed the case.
But now, a few months after making this decision, I realize that those opinions don't matter. I'm doing what's best for me and that's that. Is it different than what I had always imagined? Yes, absolutely, but plans change.
So...what am I doing?
I realized that law school wasn't the end goal because I wanted to be a lawyer - it was the end goal because I thought it would be the best route to help me help others. I've always been fascinated by the political realm because I can see the actual effects on people's lives, and I figured law school would be a great way to propel me into that political arena.
When I ran for student body president, I wanted to dedicate every moment I spent awake to that role because I knew that is what I signed up to do. That is when I first made the decision to take a year off before continuing my education, and I was okay with that decision at the time because I knew it's what I needed to do.
As I then started thinking about what I was going to do in my year off, every single paralegal job ad I looked at made my head spin. None of them appealed to me. Instead, I spent hours scouring the job postings on the House and Senate platforms, where I was much more fascinated by the job descriptions, and in fact, a little excited to fill out every job application known to man between the months of January-April as it pertained to the political realm.
Of course, as you may know, obtaining a job in politics is quite the game -- I quickly figured out that the fast turnover rate would not work with me still being in school in North Carolina while trying to get a job in DC. So, I became discouraged. But then...
An opportunity opened up with my beloved university, the place I've called home for the past 4 years. A chance to join the admissions team as a leadership development counselor/university liaison caught my eye, and knowing that I could stay here and get even more experience for a year would allow me be a step ahead when it came to my own professional development. So, that's what I did.
I love my job and am beyond thankful for all of my mentors who advised me to take a year off, because it truly is what I needed. As I settled into this job and started looking into the law school application process, I realized that I had absolutely no motivation to start the application process. After many late nights deep in thought, and many conversations with friends, I realized that the only thing keeping me latched onto the idea of law school was the fact that I didn't want to disappoint my family and friends who had put such faith in me to go on to law.
This was, and still is, a hard pill to swallow. I absolutely feel like I have let people down who I had told my entire life that I would do something that I am now not going to do, but this is when I sit back and think about what's best for me, my financial security (lol @ the cost of law school), and what will bring me true happiness.
So...what do I want to do with my life? I still am not sure completely, but luckily, I seem to fit in with the rest of my friends - as 22 year olds, are we expected to have our entire lives planned out when we haven't even lived a quarter of it yet? I sure hope not.
I started thinking about where my passion for law even stemmed from - the desire to help people. Obviously, everyone says this, but I want to affect mass amounts of people in the best way possible. I don't want to leave this world without contributing something big.
That's when I decided that Congress could be my way to accomplish this. I loved my congressional internship last summer SO much, so why not do more with it? I started exploring Master's programs in DC (obvi) and found one that seemed to match my desire perfectly -- George Washington University was always my top law school, so I decided to stick with it when looking at Masters. The Graduate School of Political Management really spoke to me throughout the grad school search, and on a whim, I decided to apply a year in advance for the legislative affairs program. I am beyond ecstatic to join this, and I feel like my main motto, everything happens for a reason, is truly in play with this decision.
While law school is not 100% off of the table for the future, I am very happy with this decision to explore the legislative realm, especially since it means I will finally be able to live and work in DC. I didn't fail, I just had a change of plans.
So...I'm not sure what the entire point of this is, besides telling you that it is perfectly okay for your life plans to change, even when they are as drastic as mine. Maybe you can relate.
Everything really does happen for a reason.
That's all for now...
XOXO, Lynds
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