Junior year of undergrad tends to be when things can get a little hectic for students. It is the time when we have to start thinking about our futures and what all we have to get done in order to get where we want to be, while also focusing on school. For me, I have always had my future laid out in my head. I told my dad in the 8th grade that I wanted to be a veterinarian and go to K-State. I have never known anything different than that and that is still my goal.

However, at the beginning of this school year, my junior year, I had a little moment of panic. In the fall semester, I took a career prep class, and the whole purpose of this class was to help us prepare for whatever our plans were for after graduation. One day, when sitting in this class, I realized that there are so many uncertainties when it comes to planning for your future. I had told myself that I was going to vet-school for so long, I never stopped to think about the things that could disrupt these plans along the way. This caused me to become extremely stressed and start worrying way more than my peers seemed to be, which was even more worrisome. I started to think about all the things I still had to accomplish before even applying to veterinary school. “Do I have enough resume builders? I need to study for the GRE more. What if I don’t even get accepted into vet school? What am I gonna do then? I don’t have a back-up plan!”

Since I had one plan for myself for so long, the idea that my plan might not unfold how I wanted it to was extremely scary for me. It took a lot of nights of self-reflection and talking to some of the people closest to me to realize that uncertainties in life are inevitable. Sometimes life throws curveballs at us, and how we adapt to them is what really matters. It took time, but I finally became comfortable with the fact that I may not end up going to veterinary school. That doesn’t mean that I am not going to try my hardest to be the best applicant I possibly can be, but I may not get accepted the first time I apply, and that is okay. The best thing I can do is be as prepared as I possibly can be, and not be opposed to any new or different opportunities that may come my way.

I think right now is a perfect example of accepting uncertainty. I don’t think any of us students went into spring break expecting to not be able to come back to campus for the rest of the semester. Even now that spring break is over, I don’t think any of us really know what the rest of the semester is going to look like. However, there is no reason to let that hold us back. We just have to take it one day at a time and be prepared for any obstacles that may come our way.