[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]From childhood, parents and teachers expect us to know what we want to be when we grow up. Most of the popular answers are a firefighter or an astronaut or a veterinarian. Even later on in middle school we are expected to know what we want to be. Continuing on to high school is more about grades and getting into a college, but we still get asked what we what to do with our lives.

High school is supposed to be the fun four years you will never forget. Instead, I will never forget the four years of stress and grades and drama, just to name a few. It’s like repeatedly poking a bear with a stick labeled ‘college.’ The constant poking and nagging throughout high school distracted me from my real passion in life, which I have not yet discovered. I am so pressured to think about my future every day, even when I was younger, that I cannot remember if I have homework or not today.

I remember freshman year being a little bit scary and exciting. I was thinking too much about my grades and getting used to the high school environment. Sophomore year was probably the most relaxed year in hindsight, because I did not have to worry about finding my way around the campus or start looking at colleges. Junior year, for me, was the toughest and most stressful year, between the SAT, AP classes and career center courses.

Now it’s my senior year, the last year in the free, mandatory public school system. I thought being a big shot high school senior was going to be like a blow off class, fun and totally chill. Boy, was I wrong. Getting good grades is now more important than ever in order to graduate on time. Even a borderline 70 in a class is like determining the rest of your life. But then again I see other seniors not caring anymore and it makes me even more paranoid.

I am still learning that whatever I decide my future to be now, does not have to be permanent. High school is not a destiny nor is it a conclusion. But people act like it is the most important thing you will do to determine your future, and it is not. Surprisingly, neither is college. The course of my life is not decided, ever, and I am struggling to learn that.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]