More life decisions (grad school or what?)

[n0es]

Since deciding to come here for college, I haven't had to give a lot of thought to my future, aside from mulling internship options. Scratch that--finding and choosing internships wasn't even really planning a future, it just seemed kind of necessary. It's been nice just enjoying my life at college, taking a courseload where 90% of the classes

Comments

[anonymous]

Check plus on the being with friends. Therefore, go work in Seattle next year ;)

I guess I'd say, to do anything other than the default (picking between grad school and a full-time job somewhere) you need to be either creative or passionate. If you're passionate about the peace corps or the military or working in a certain country, you'll go out of your way to do that. If you're creative enough to come up with a non-standard way to live your life like doing small jobs, starting your own business, or moving around the world working in short bursts, then you'll do that. I personally am not that creative and not particularly passionate about anything related to my work or lifestyle (there are certain things I want in my lifestyle of course but nothing that would affect my acceptance of the default decision to work full-time), so I went with the first job that seemed "fine enough" that presented itself to me. You may have other ideas, and I'd say if they've presented themselves to you, at least investigate them. But I wouldn't say it makes much sense to consider options that you're only checking out for the sake of checking out other options. If you're not interested in law, don't go to law school. If you don't have an idea for a startup, why try one just for the hell of it? I know this view is conformist and close-minded, but I'm not trying to discourage you from doing something that seems different and interesting, just saying don't be a rebel because you feel bad taking the default options. Sometimes it's the default for a reason (I'm actually unsure if there is a reason in this case or not, but it does seem to be accepted by an awful lot of people). BUT, you HAVE demonstrated a passion for going abroad, or at least China, so by all means investigate that! Don't be intimidated by the number of possibilities; just because there are an infinite number doesn't mean you need to investigate or even be aware of all of them. Instead pursue the few you care about/come to mind naturally and see where it takes you.

[n0es]

way to sign your appreciated post, Andrew Bernon Tourtellot