I do not care about my plan. by Victoria

I do not care about my plan. by Victoria - March 2020 Scholarship Essay

I do not care about my 10-year career plan. However, that definitely does not mean that I do not care about my future. Although I could tell anyone my pretty solid, impressive-to-the-adults plan on the spot, if it was completely derailed I wouldn’t mind at all. So far, life has taught me that nothing ever goes 100% according to the plan, yet somehow I still always make it on the other side stronger than ever before and a little further than ever before.

As an 8th grader, I thought that my future would be at the prestigious Osceola Fundamental High School where I would academically succeed, join as many clubs as possible, and live out my “nerd niche” which would eventually lead me to the University of Florida. Today, I’m happy to say that I still plan attend UF in the fall, and technically, my ultimate 8th grade dream destination has been reached. However, if I had told my past self that my journey there was not even close to what was on the “plan”, she would most certainly be bewildered and baffled.

She would have no clue that I would abruptly switch to a different school in the middle of freshman year, accidentally fall in love with an actual sport and become a student-athlete, or even evolve into a student leader which she never thought she could ever be. In the short 4-year high school plan I made in middle school, I never planned on doing any of these things because I didn’t know who I was going to turn out to be. I never knew that I would change so much in only 4 years. More importantly, I never knew that my goals would keep on changing after every new year of experience as I grew.

Who I was as a person and what I wanted kept on changing and that is the reason why I will never truly know what is in front of me in the long run. I can only project so far in my career plan and I find that not having a career plan much longer than 2 years at the age of 17 is perfectly suitable. Young people do not need to have massive plans. They need plans that can evolve with them. Having a 10-year career plan right now might even be unnecessary for me as I know my path in college may drastically change after growing in a new environment and declaring a major. However, all of my long-term goals are still in place, and although they may not reach the 10-year mark, they are what I strive for.

I would like to attend the University of Florida for 4 years for a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering. Additionally, I plan to apply for a co-op with NASA or other related aeronautic/aerospace agencies to gain work experience as I complete my degree. My co-op internship may even end up being my first place of work after my college education is completed at the age of 21. From, then I would still like to begin my career as an Aerospace Engineer.

While my plan may seem solid, to me it is a vague outline of where I want to be in the future and I am not tightly bound to it. It is vague because I know that there will be twists and turns and there are holes for me to fill. In the end, as long as I stick to my morals and my true desires in a career of happiness and purpose, my plan does not matter to me.