Making Future Plans

Everyone makes plans for their journey through time. As a toddler, you’re greatest concern is being available at a certain time to watch Sesame Street. But as time goes by, things get more and more complicated. When you’re old enough to enter the world of public education, you are forced to sacrifice leisure time in the pursuit of those A’s and B’s that keep you out of hot water with your parents. And when you enter high school, you must not only strive for a GPA that will land you in a great college, but juggle your time in order to participate in extracurricular activities and to assure your closest friend that her life is not over because she doesn’t have the perfect outfit for her date on Saturday night.

You must also contend with the seemingly never-ending questions surrounding your plans after graduation. Do your plans include college, and if so, which one? Are you taking a year off, or are you headed straight for the workforce? That may be easy for some people to answer, as they have known from an early age exactly what they want to be and how they intend to get there, but not all of us are so sure of our future plans.

For example, when I first met my friend Heather, she wanted to be a zoologist. But she soon changed her mind and decided she wanted to be a game warden instead. It didn’t take long to realize that was a real long shot for a blind individual, so she became totally intrigued with the idea of being a Russian interpreter. She just graduated high school this June, and has decided she wants to study and prepare to get into International Affairs. I have a distinct feeling Heather will be among the 75 percent of students that change their major after they enter college—probably several times!!

As for me, I have always had an affinity for law, although I have navigated away from a career in corporate law to possibly environmental law or labor relations. I want to be able to make a difference in the lives of everyday people, and I no longer feel corporate law would allow me to do that. And as for colleges, I would love to attend Harvard, but because of their historical status, their buildings are not handicap accessible, which would make it practically impossible. However, there are thousands of schools out there and I’m sure I’ll be able to find one where I can get the education I need to succeed.

I do plan to take a year off after graduation to regroup, a practice called a “gap year” in the United Kingdom. That year won’t be all fun and games though as I will be spending my time at an NFB training center learning not only independent living skills but also travel skills that will enable me to navigate a college campus. But I still have my last year of high school to go, and I may decide to change my career path, after all, lots of people do.