It seems like everyday we're facing choices we don't really want to make. Just recently, I had to make a pretty important decision regarding my future: do I take an internship that wouldn’t allow me enough time to continue participating in a school activity I love, or do I keep my extracurricular and forego a potentially amazing experience?
If you’re like me when facing decisions like these, your mind is clouded to the brim with questions and doubt. What if I don’t like the internship? What if I take this opportunity and wish I'd stuck with the extracurricular activity I enjoyed? What if I pass it up and never get another opportunity like this again?
It’s hard to work through these kind of situations. It's hard at 20 years old to feel prepared to make these decisions, yet here I am (along with so many other young women), attempting to navigate opportunities that could define my future success. But recently, I was given a piece of advice that has really helped me uncloud my decision-making process. I was airing my concerns to one of my high school coaches, going on and on about how I was scared that I wouldn’t like the internship, and it made me question whether or not I should take the opportunity despite its many benefits. I was told, ‘You can’t think like that. You don’t know if it’s going to be good or bad, so don’t waste your time worrying about it. Go off what you know.’
Like I said, at 20 years old, I don’t feel like I know a whole lot. But what I did know was that the internship I was debating would be an amazing experience, and even if I were to find myself disliking it, it would still open so many doors for me. My extracurricular activity that I loved would still be there if the internship didn’t work out; I can’t say the same if they were switched.
It’s hard to let go of things you love, especially when faced with the unknown.
It’s hard to let go of things you love, especially when faced with the unknown. It’s even more difficult to put serious decisions into perspective — how does happiness equate to opportunity? Where’s the line drawn? My freshman year Econ professor would have a calculated answer for you; I don’t. Those lines are personal. You can calculate all you want, but in the end, you need to go off what you know, even if it’s close to nothing.
Don't be afraid to do something just because you're unsure if you like it. Forget the doubts and worries, the potential mistakes, the things that could happen, but you’re not really sure if they will. Forget the hypotheticals and embrace what you know.
Laney Byler is a Communications student at the University of Michigan and editorial intern with bSmart Guide.
Comments (3)