I’ve been told my entire life how important it is to have a plan, to never jump into something blindly. However, I could not have failed to take that advice more. 

Dealing with  the overwhelming pressure to take classes that match your career plans, keeping your GPA high to get into the best college for your major—these outside obstacles all crowd your head while you’re just trying to figure out where you fit. From relatives to society’s expectations, the message is clear: by the time you walk across that stage, you should have your entire life planned out. But what if you don’t? 

Hold on. Let’s take a step back and breathe a little. I don’t want to scare you. Contrary to popular belief, it’s okay to have no idea what you want to pursue by the end of your high school years. In fact, it’s more normal than you think. According to “Young People Want to Get to Work Sooner” by Insider, only 13% of high school students feel fully prepared to choose their path after school ends. To put that into perspective, 13% of 4,000 students is around 520. Out of the entire school population, that’s one eighth of students that know what they want to do by the time they graduate. So if you think about it, a lot more people are in the same boat as you than they might portray themselves to be. 

The pressure to have it together at our age is counterproductive in itself. It often leads students to overthink about their lack of a plan, and that we need one ASAP, which spirals into a catastrophic chain of deprecating thoughts. The question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” can be daunting for us young people. It implies that there’s a singular destination we must reach, a specific endpoint that defines us. But life isn’t so linear. It’s a winding journey filled with detours and surprises. It’s unrealistic to expect anyone, especially teenagers, to have their entire life mapped out before they experience the world. 

Let’s make this clear—change is inevitable at any point in life. You change as a person practically every week and as you gain valuable experiences. Being unconfined to one particular lane of studies or work in this day and age is normal, really. Changing your classes for some can be like changing socks: it happens every day. There’s nothing wrong with getting a taste of different things while you can. After all, high school is just the beginning of our journey, not the end. 

Life is unpredictable, and sometimes a wedge is slammed right between you and your dreams. What we think we want at 18 may entirely be different from what we actually want at 25. And that’s not failure, it’s growth. It’s the beauty of being human and evolving, adapting to the twists and turns thrown our way. Trust that the path will reveal itself when you’re ready, and until then, embrace the uncertainty. It’s often in the unknown that we find our greatest opportunities for growth and self-discovery.