By Jessica Babb | Broadcast Managing Editor
Dear seniors,
Over the course of the last week, I have met many new, over-ambitious freshmen who are radiating with excitement, are not yet sleep deprived, are slightly overwhelmed and still of unsure of what to expect and are just eager to begin their new college journey. As a sappy senior, meeting these freshmen brought on the nostalgia, making me think back three short years ago when I felt the exact same way and had no idea of the adventures college would bring.
Like other seniors, now on the other side of our college experience, many of the feelings are similar. Eager and excited to enter the professional world, but slightly overwhelmed and unsure of what is to come. With more mature, worldly, and sleep-deprived perspectives, the stress of graduation and “what comes next” looms over us. At this point, I have lost count of how many conversations I have with friends, who like me, are still unsure of their next steps after graduating in a few months. For us, the idea of not yet having a “real adult plan” is daunting, and at times even a little scary.
Personally, I am a huge planner and for the first time in my life I have absolutely no idea where I will be in six months. I don’t know if I will end up close to home or across the country. I don’t know how much money I will be making and I don’t even know at what point this semester I will land that first job and begin to formulate a plan for what the next chapter of my life will look like.
So right now, like many other seniors, I am playing the waiting game – just waiting and waiting and waiting to see what comes next.
But it is OK. It is OK for us not to have the plan for the immediate future or for the rest of our lives.
While we are waiting to see what the future brings, we also need to remember that God has a plan for us and will reveal our purpose and role in the next stage of our lives when the time is right. At least for me, this has been the best exercise in learning to trust God’s plan and timing over my own.
I take comfort in the fact that during my college experience, He has provided for me. As a freshman, I would have never imagined that I would work for the campus news organization as a broadcast editor, would have study abroad, would have the chance to spend a semester in Washington D.C. helping cover a presidential election or wouid become the woman I am today. Over the course of my time at Baylor, I have had many formative experiences and met so many incredible people. If you had asked me on move in day three years ago, I could have never imagined the plan God had for me during this chapter of my life.
I do my best to keep that in focus whenever I start to worry or stress.
In the meantime, while we are waiting to see what is next, we need to remember to enjoy what is left of our time in college and not squander the precious and limited moments we have left at Baylor stressing about a plan God already has for us.
So for every senior who is still trying to figure out what comes next, stop stressing, take a deep breath, and remember that it is all going to work out, somehow, some way.
