The class was held in the largest lecture hall on campus, which I quickly found out. When I opened the doors, I felt 600 eyes turn around and stare at me. I was already running late, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the large door made an awful high-pitched screeching noise, as if to announce my arrival.

With a look of shock on my face and an MSU campus map in hand, I quickly located my friend and scurried to my seat, hoping everyone had forgotten about “that freshman girl.”
I tried my best to get into the lecture. The class was COM 225: An Introduction to Interpersonal Communication.

The professors, husband and wife duo Steve and Kelly, were bouncing around the room enthusiastically discussing the course material for the upcoming semester.

Steve then asked the class to show their status by a raise of hands. Most of the room was filled with juniors and seniors, but there were some sophomores and a handful of lonely, confused freshmen.
Then Steve started a conversation with our class I will never forget. He asked us to think of our five closest friends, our significant other and our area of study.

While sitting in my seat, I started sorting everything out in my head.

I felt pretty confident with all my answers. I always knew I wanted to study business, I had a solid group of best friends and I was single and ready to focus on myself for a while. There I was, sitting in the largest lecture hall at MSU, an 18-year-old woman with goals, dreams and a plan.

I was sure I had my whole life figured out.

Boy, was I wrong.

He then began to roll into his lecture, telling everyone who was in a relationship that they probably would be single within the next year. He also told us our top five friends most likely would not be the same by the time we graduated and that we probably would end up changing our major a few more times, even if we were certain of what we wanted to do.

I was shocked. I felt as though this person was threatening my perfect life plan. I knew exactly what I wanted out of life, and I intended to get it. I remember feeling a little irritated that this person, who didn’t even know me, would make such drastic claims about my future.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that he was actually kind of right.

Throughout the next three years, I began to embrace change and learn to grow.

I tried to get involved with as many clubs and organizations as I could. I soon felt overwhelmed by the schedule that I had created for myself, but realized that I’d much rather be too busy than not busy enough. I also realized it was time for some relationships to end, while others had just begun.

After doubting myself during the first change in my major, I found self-assurance upon finally deciding to double major in advertising and journalism. I know now I am not the same person I was last year, and I definitely am not the same person I was on my first day of COM 225.

And I’m pretty OK with that.

What I am realizing now, after my first week of senior year, is that it’s OK to not have every detail ironed out.

When I walked into my first day of class this year, I remembered my first lecture of college three years prior. I felt a sense of confidence in the choices I had made and the experiences I had encountered to reach the current path I was on.

Whether you are a freshman or a senior, it is OK to still be figuring out your life. Sometimes I think the “real world” has given us an unrealistic expectation that you must have every aspect of your life in perfect order by graduation day.

This couldn’t be farther from the truth. I really believe everyone has his or her own plan, and it is just waiting to be discovered; it just might take some time to get there.

So while you’re out blazing your own trail, remember to embrace change, cherish relationships new and old and enjoy discovering who you are.

That is, if you want to take advice from a 21-year-old with a life plan in limbo.

Paige Bolen is a guest columnist at The State News and a journalism and advertising senior. Reach her at bolenpai@msu.edu.