— Moritz Krüsselmann

I just finished school. Now what?

This question is surely not only bothering me, but probably thousands of other students all around the world. Many thoughts and considerations and a high tendency to doubt all of your own decisions just a second after you made them. This is the usual state of mind. Then you start making plans.

The first plan tends to contains great ideas about traveling the world and living abroad before you expose yourself to those annoying learning hazzles again. Nice side effect is that you can also postpone the annoying question of “what-to-study” for another twelve months. This was also my first plan.
Travel contains just about every ingridient I love about life: Seeing and learning new things, making new friends, getting a different perspective on things. From every new location you bring home not only great moments and learnings but also the feeling that just how you’ve just added another stamp to your passport you have also just added another little piece to what makes you who you are. Multiple reasons to travel. Other people can explain this even better “Why we travel”) Ranking high on my personal favorites-list were Buenos Aires, Rome or again my beloved Sydney.

But then there is the more logic/conservative side of everyone’s plan-portfolio. It involves multiple variables all circling around your own search for security, expectations of others, financial reasons, sometimes even your first love..

Most often this results in a second plan. Starting to study at University/College or going for any form of further tuition, internships etc. This plan seems far more uncomfortable to many of us. No matter which way you take, each way seems to minimize the choices for your future job-life. For a 18-20 year-old-unsure-student “wasting” your time on what can turn out to be absolutely boring, really doesn’t seeem like an attractive option. The perspective of having to go back to new, even thicker schoolbooks, after you probably had the best summer of your life doesn’t make it an easier choice either.

All in all plan no. 2 is definitely the harder way to go. Some try to make it easier.
They choose something that seems to suit them well and the block out every possible critique or thought that might threaten their carefully drafted plan. Others make it too hard. They forget that there is never just “the one way”, build this up till it becomes a “dead or alive” issue and finally end up even more confused then they were before. Some lucky ones maybe really KNOW what they want to do. My guess however is this only works for creatives and childhood kind of job descriptions. (writer, painter, astronaut, doctor..) I’ve never met a kid dreaming to be an accountant. Because of all the described obstacles, plan no. 2 didnt seem like the “nice-option” to me as well. Particularly the outlook of focussing on one particular subject for a time as long as up to 6 years was at first sight a pretty grim perspective for someone as unsure and variable in interests as the weather. Furthermore and even worse- I had exactly NO plan WHAT to study- not even to mention where.

But as always with a good bit of time and lots of musing added, all pieces somehow came together and at least I now feel that I have considered all options carefully enough for me to stop thinking about them. It is plan no. 2 with a good bit if no. 1 to ease the pain. I still don’t know where to study and whether I will like it, but that’s content for future blogposts. What is (was) your take on this? Meaningful advice/lessons you’ve learned ? Sharing is caring!