Searching for meaning in life after graduation

By Roujin Mozaffarimehr

As graduation nears, I'm constantly asked the same horrible, daunting question seniors dread being asked: What are you doing next year?

I used to give the standard, "work for a year, then apply for law school" response. For the past four years, I've always thought I knew exactly what my plan would be for the next 10 years.

I planned on taking a year off to take the LSAT, work, apply to law school, go to law school and go on from there. I just felt like it was the right thing to do. Everyone around me also expected me to do the same thing.

This changed a couple months ago. For the first time in my life, I questioned my plan. Did I really see myself in law school? Was I going to apply because I thought it was right for me, or because I thought it was the right thing to do after graduation?

I faced an existential crisis that shook my stable plans awry. In that moment, I had no plan.

After four years of college, how could I not know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? It's a scary feeling, and I know I'm not alone.

After a lot of freaking out and personal reflection, I started asking myself what would truly make me happy.

I started thinking about journalism, non-profit work and maybe law school in the future.

Is any of this a certainty? Am I going to succeed? The truth is that I don't know the answer to either of these questions.

What I'm trying to say is this: I always thought I knew what I was going to do in life. I thought law school was set in stone for me, but I realized it wasn't.

Nothing has to be official and binding. Even after four years of undergraduate education, it's okay to feel uncertain about the future.

Graduating seniors are in our early 20s and have our whole lives ahead of us.

We don't have to be sure of exactly what we want to do for the rest of our lives right at this moment. What's important is to pursue that which inspires you.

I realized that I didn't find law school to be all that meaningful for me right now.

This realization has allowed me to think about what makes me happy. It's non-profit work and journalism for me, and it may be something else for you than what you originally thought it would be.

More importantly, I've realized that it's OK to take chances. Maybe I'm going through a phase, and law school really is where I belong, but I'm OK with taking a chance. We're at an age where we should feel compelled to do exactly that. I know that 10 years from now, I don't want to look back and wonder, "What if?"

Now, when people ask me about my plans after graduation, I say I'm not completely sure, but that I'm going to try to pursue something that is meaningful to me.

And if I fail, so what? At least I tried.

So for all you seniors who feel the same sort of anxiety about post-graduation plans, relax. Whether you've got a job lined up that you're not sure if you want, have a few possibilities in mind, put in your deposit for law school or are just as lost as I am, make sure that you make your decision for yourself.

Take a chance -- you only live once.

Roujin Mozaffarimehr is a senior political science and Italian double major.