From a young age, we were all taught the importance of a college education and  put under a strange amount of pressure as kids to figure out what we wanted to do with our lives.

It’s almost funny looking back at how adults would jokingly ask us what we wanted to be when we grew up as kids; but as we got older, it was no longer a joke and the question became more serious.

After going through many different paths, I feel very fortunate to know what I would like to major in and what I want to do for the rest of my life; however, most people don’t feel that way and are getting put under a lot of pressure to figure it out. I don’t think most adults realize how odd it is to put a 16 or 17-year-old under so much pressure to figure out what they want to do for the rest of their lives, at such a young age.

In my opinion, it’s 100% ok if you don’t know what you want to do and aren’t planning on going to college immediately after graduating high school. Everybody’s different so don’t feel discouraged or disappointed if you don’t know what you’re doing after high school; you’re only 17 or 18 and that’s way too young to be making such big life-changing decisions.

Besides, the college admissions process is actually kind of weird. I understand that admissions counselors go through hundreds (or even thousands) of applications per day, but is paying a non-refundable application fee necessary? It’s extremely unnecessary in my opinion and it can be pretty disappointing paying a sum of money that you could have easily used to buy food (or something else) to a school that you could end up getting rejected from. From my experience, the 2 schools that I didn’t have to pay a fee for, gave me decisions the same week that I sent them and I got accepted to both…weird right?

The FAFSA is a blessing and a curse. It’s great for everyone to get an opportunity to receive some sort of financial aid, but at the same time, why does filling it out cause so much stress? My advice for any underclassmen? Please fill it out early and take your time with it, trust me.

The almost 2-year pandemic has been a never-ending nightmare for everyone, but the only thing we can thank the pandemic for is making over 76% of college tests optional. This means you don’t have to worry about taking the SAT or ACT since most schools don’t require it. Even though it does make your application stronger if you got a great score, supposedly the SAT’s purpose is to determine whether a student is ready for college or not, which I think is bogus. The way you get a good SAT score is by studying a lot. So by getting a good SAT score, in my opinion, shows how much you know and how well you remember things that you learned years ago; but for the most part, it just shows that you know how to study very well. It does not determine whether you’re ready for college or not.

Even though I can’t give much advice or insight as to whether the college experience is worth it or not, what I can say is that I think it’s up to you. Yes, a college education and degree are excellent and will make you stand out a little more when applying for jobs, although it’s a small number: 36% of jobs don’t require a college degree.

But if you truly found something you love (and it doesn’t require a degree) then in my opinion it’s up to you. Yes, a college education will allow you to learn more, complete assignments in something you love and overall you will grow more as a person, but if you don’t think the debt is worth it (and you don’t want to go to college) then that’s your decision.

Overall when it comes to the college admissions process, deciding what school you want to commit to, and most importantly what you want to major in, the biggest piece of advice I can give is, be honest with yourself and the people around you and do what YOU want to do. Don’t be influenced by anyone or anything. Remember that it’s your life and that it’s your education(that at this point you are paying TONS of money for) and it’s not fair to be paying money to learn about something that you’re not passionate about.

Life’s too short to not be doing what you love.