I love that I have no idea what I want to do.

You probably don’t hear that too often. I’m surprised at myself for saying it, but after only a couple months here at the University of Texas, I find that it’s true. I came here with no idea what kind of career or field of study I wanted to pursue, and I felt like I was in the minority. Not only do I know now that I am in the vast majority, but I also know that there is a lot more to be learned at a university than a specific career.

When I told my advisors, or parents, or parents’ friends that I had no idea what I wanted to do, they just smiled and said that was probably a good thing. I guess they wanted me “to avoid…the desire to try to arrange all of the future now” (Giametti 321), and I’m so glad I did (though I still feel the urge once in awhile). It just seemed that I should use college to become as knowledgeable and practiced in the career of my dreams as possible. The fact that I had no idea what this career was actually led me to Plan II.

What I found in Plan II was not only the flexibility to explore, but the requirement to explore. I spent hours over orientation pouring through the course schedule just looking at classes in any and all subjects that even remotely interested me. When I finally did come up with a final schedule, it worked in some of the requirements, but more importantly, I got to dabble in a little bit of everything! I was experimenting with business, astronomy, classical studies, and music, and I loved it. I felt the “freedom…from mere vocationalism” that the liberal arts offered (319), and it was amazing.

I still have yet to find my calling in a specific field, but now that doesn’t worry me because it is not my goal. I am excited about taking as many of those courses I eagerly looked up in the schedule as possible simply for learning’s sake. With this new mindset, I feel that I have started on the road to “the getting and keeping of an open mind, a mind flexible and tough in its powers, humane in its perspective, [and] rational and imaginative in its operations” (Giametti 321).