Current Release: September 11th, 2007 | Vol. XXIV Iss. 10

Freshmen and Seniors: What s on your mind?

by Elizabeth Appleyard

eaappleyard@vwc.edu

It was Aug. 26, 2004 and I had just arrived at my new home; anxious and scared. I left behind all that I knew and prepared myself for the next chapter of my life.

Social standings put college next on my list of what to do after high school; so without hesitation I left my quaint beach town in South Jersey and found myself at the front gate of Virginia Wesleyan College.

Without any opportunity of slowing down I have continued my journey down the road of life.

I chose a major, I joined some clubs, I interned and externed.

I put together a resume.

I have sat behind the wheel of my life driving on coast for three years, and now, at the start of my senior year I find myself at a crossroads.

My foot is slowly pressing on the brake. The time to pick a direction is quickly upon me.

The problem is all the roads are blocked.

Society helped me out of high school, it brainwashed me into thinking that the proper thing to do was to go directly to college; so I went.

Now I am here, having done all that I can to prepare myself for  the real world, I still have no idea where to go.

There is no social expectation lying on my shoulders anymore.

I am now, what I consider, an adult and it is up to me to decide where to go. Maybe I ll travel or go to grad school. Maybe Prince Charming will come knocking on my door with a million dollars, a new car, and a high profile job guaranteed to support me for the rest of my life.

Maybe not.

Either way, I have learned a lot in my three years at VWC, and with two semesters left I have already begun to learn more about myself and about the decisions I will be making in just a few short months.

Life is a process of choices. It is not necessarily about making the right ones, but about learning from the wrong ones. I have made some wrong choices while at college, but I have also been pushed to find the good in them.

I do not know where my life is headed, nor do I know how to completely control it.

All I know is that once I get to those crossroads I want to be prepared to make an educated decision.