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Plans and chance
Respecting if you're a 'need a plan' or 'go with the flow' kind of person.
Someone once told me that being one of those kids who knows where they’re going and why they want to go there is a blessing. When I was in high school, all my friends went to see the student counsellor, while I sat out in the sun reading a book because I knew exactly what I was going to do and where I was going to do it: Environmental Science in Trinity College was my plan and I was determined to follow it!
Now, a few years later, I’m here in Trinity College, and I love it. I’m absolutely sure that moving from Denmark to Ireland to study Environmental Science was the right choice for me. But, with exams around the corner, I’m scared to death of losing the plan and the dream, because, what if I fail my exams? What am I supposed to do then? Should I just quit now before I’m failing?
2½ years ago I met a girl who said: “Where I used to be scared of not knowing where I’m going, I now know that it is okay not to have your whole life planned, because sometimes it is exciting to just jump and see what happens. As graduates in 2008 we can do that because the world is open and full of opportunities - you just need to take them”.
The girl I met was me; I said those words in my valedictorian speech in high school in front of almost 1000 people. To be honest I don’t know why I said it. Because, quite simply it wasn’t true for me. I was never that girl who was ready to just wander off without plans. I mean, I have already told you that I planned almost my entire life years ago. I guess I said it because I wanted to be the girl that meant it, the fearless girl that was ready to conquer the world without a plan of how to do it.
Recently, I realized why I wanted to be the no-plan girl: I was, and still am, simply just scared of losing my plan because that would mean that I have failed my dream. I thought that if I could just be the girl with no plan, then that had to mean that I had nothing to lose - but I was wrong. Not to wish for something or plan for something just because you are scared of failing is not right. You should only be a no-plan girl if you truly love not to have a plan!
I sincerely hope that every young girl or guy out there that has tests/exams/try outs etc. coming up and who is struggling with pulling themselves together because they are scared of failing their plan/dream, will sit down and take the time to remember why it is their dream and then use the new discovered passion and hope to bring home the goal.
There are a lot of people who spend years and years trying to figure out what they want. So, if you are one of the lucky ones, like me, who know your path from a very young age, than be thankful and go for it.
That is how I will try my best to think in six weeks time when exams start.
By: Susannah Keller Finn
