Have you ever been on a road trip that feels like it will never end? Every time I drive home from college I always ask, "How am I not there yet?". The worst is when those mental checkpoints that exist to assure me of my progress, are not anywhere to be seen. I have three of these points on my drive back home. One is the pine trees lining the highway (my favorite one), the second is reaching the interstate, and the third is turning onto the highway. Within these three points, I have intermediate checkpoints. Those are when the highway becomes four lanes or when I reach an exit. If I am honest, I have even more check points within those. Essentially, my whole drive consists of me passing time by recognizing landmarks and seeing how long it took for me to get there. It can be said that I am all about measuring progress and ensuring I am going in the right direction.
College is like a road trip. I ask myself all the time, "Am I graduating yet?" or "Is this class over yet?". The difference between a road trip and college is that college does not always have a solidified destination. Yes, the goal of going to college is a degree and a career, or hopefully it is. But you cannot exactly put "a degree" into the GPS system. Sure, degree planners exist, but even those are not always accurate. Classes get dropped, schedules change, and those wonderful degree planners change with them. College is full of reroutes.
The truth is, we have no idea what is going to happen in between college orientation and graduation. The problem with being rerouted constantly, is the checkpoints we originally made are no longer viable. Yet, we continue to use them. This is a problem. Take my friend for instance.
"I just feel like I would have accomplished more in college by this point in my life."
Wow, is this relatable. She is graduating and is troubled by the things she thought she would have done but did not. College has A LOT of opportunities. From organizations (thousands of them), to school, to work, to friends, to finding time for yourself, it is normal to only do a fraction of the available options. The hard part is being okay with that.
College is a road trip where it seems it is going in one direction and it ends up in another. If you are that rare person who never changed their major or career aspirations, and everything worked out just as you expected, then congratulations!! But for the other 99.9% of us who were rerouted, it is okay!!! What is not okay, is comparing your final destination to the original route.
My original route was a double major of education and math at a small, private university. Now, I am an industrial engineering major with a certificate in entrepreneurship at a giant, state university. My first university said "Go frogs". Now, I say "Gig 'em" which comes from gigging those very frogs I once was. I aspired to be the president of my sorority... now, I am the president of an honor society. I wanted to be getting engaged after my senior year, now, I could not imagine being in a relationship. Do you get the picture? Just to make sure, THINGS ARE DIFFERENT.
Different does not mean worse or better. It simply means not the same. Had I never transferred, I am sure I would have been perfectly happy and living out a different trajectory. But I did transfer. I did get rerouted. Things did change. It is hard for me to see the fruits of this change when I think I should be at my previous school shouting "go frogs" with my sorority sisters. The only way I became satisfied in my college road trip, is when I started evaluating my progress with my new destination.
Instead of becoming upset with what you have not accomplished, change the perspective! I do not think my friend and I are the only people who have been rerouted and need this reminder. I need to hear it, she needs to hear it, we all need to hear it.
What have you accomplished? If you have changed your mind about your future, that is an accomplishment. It is equally as important to know what you do not like as it is to know what you do like. And if you truly feel like you do not have any accomplishments, growing is an accomplishment! Look to see how you are growing and be proud of that! I encourage you to write a list, tell a friend, Instagram about it, tweet it, it does not matter as long as you acknowledge it and are proud of it! Celebrate yourself!!
Just to get you started, here are few of my accomplishments recently
Learned what it means to love myself
Created a vision for an organization and acted on it
Started my own website
Developed as a leader and a team player
Grown in my relationships (self, friends, family, and Christ)
The point of all of this is that the checkpoints we have in college for our success are, yes, important, but they should not be the root of our satisfaction. Part of that satisfaction is recognizing what you have done and learning to be proud of it. Our lives evolve constantly and our checkpoints need to evolve with them. So, stop asking "Am I there yet?" and start asking "What have I accomplished?".