I was one of the lucky ones when it came to college; I had the ability to lay down my plan for next five years. The secret behind my five year plan is it changed twenty times before I even stepped foot into my first college class.

Life is not a magic 8 ball. You don’t get the chance to ask a question over and over until you get the answer you want; you have to run with whatever you are given.

At 15 I had plans on joining the Air Force, to fight for my country. I was going to set aside my childish dream of writing and go to college for physical therapy. At 16 I had major knee surgery. I was told shortly after that my left knee also needed a similar procedure; meaning, I was no longer physically able to join the military.

At 17 I joined my high school yearbook staff and told myself  I wanted to do print journalism and work on a novel. I had seven chapters written, typed, and edited on my book. Life was good and I was set for about a month when I found spoken word and fell in love! I stopped working on my novel and started writing and watching slam poetry only allowing my love to grow.

At 18 I devoted  my life once again to religion saying I was going to do missionary work in Africa after I graduated high school. I spent weeks filling out applications. At the same time I started to take college classes at Austin Peay through dual enrollment when I found myself in a depressive episode. I stopped doing homework and then would have an anxiety attack that I was ruining my future. I started to not show up to high school classes and for a while it was questioned if I was going to graduate.

At this time I started writing short stories and working at my church running the social media sites and fell in love. I began taking medication and started to work through my mental health, which I still work on daily as a freshmen.

I am now 18 and a writer at The All State, and once again my future plans were uprooted when I fell in love with this blog! For years I have wanted to start a blog yet never had a push to try. I started the college paper with the mindset that I was going to love the print side of news and then fell for something else.

College is the time for change; it is the time for youthful mistakes. So allow yourself to make them. Most mistakes are ones you can fix in the long run. So if you are in between taking that class, just do it. The worst thing that could happen is you love it!

The best advice I can give you is to just enjoy your life as it is. Do not sweat the small stuff and understand you have no idea where you are going to end up. You never know; the biggest hiccup in your life could impact your future in the best way possible.

So before I sign off, remember go on that coffee date, dance at that party, take all the classes you want, eat that burger, and don’t be afraid to turn down the path you have never walked before. Life’s a roller coaster; scary at first but you always end up enjoying the adventure, even if you were frightened.

“Always go with the choice that scares you that most, because that’s the one that is going to help you grow.”-Caroline Myss

XOXO

Jillian Eve Ferebee