‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’ is the dumbest question ever
I don’t even know what I’ll be doing next week
They say age is just a number, but what happens when you’re 30 years old, living on your parent’s couch and still questioning what to do with the rest of your adult life?
Recently, someone told me I need to figure out where I’m going to live once I graduate from college. Granted this isn’t out of the ordinary, I still had no idea as to how or why I was expected to make this decision right now.
Visions of a 25 year old me started to run through my head as I pictured myself living in my childhood bedroom still unable to figure out where I was going in life. Needless to say, panic began to set in.
Big decisions
Choosing where you plan to live for the rest of your life is a big decision. At this point in my college career, I don’t even know where I’m living next semester, let alone after I graduate.
I’m sure I’m not the only student in this position, but it’s really is scary to realize that in three years it’s considered socially unacceptable to still live at home and depend solely on your aging parents.
Before I even turned 18 I had it all figured out. I was going to The University of Iowa (that part didn’t change), after four years of school I would get into Iowa’s Physical Therapy program, get my doctorate, and move home to be a Physical Therapist in a near by city. LOL. That didn’t happen.
Fast forward a year and a half and I’m now a Journalism and Mass Communications major on my way to earning a certificate in Entrepreneurial Management. A lot can change during a year and a half, and that isn’t always a bad thing.
Nothing is set in stone
The most common question we college kids hear is, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Well personally, I’d love to be living in a high rise apartment in the middle of New York City.
However, the chances of that happening are almost as likely as winning the lottery. So instead of saying where we would really like to see ourselves, we make more realistic assumptions.
We have no idea where we are going, and that’s okay. We make goals and guesses so we have some sense of direction, but we usually end up taking a path we never would have imagined ourselves on.
We can’t plan everything for the future
Asking someone where they see themselves in five years may not be the dumbest question ever, but it sure is high up there on the list. Determining exactly what you want to have accomplished in five years can set you up for disappointment in the long run.
Five years is a long time, and a lot can happen in that large of a stretch. Just because you don’t accomplish the things you planned five years ago doesn’t mean you’re a failure, it just means you found something that better fits your constantly-changing life.
I can’t tell you where I’ll be, or what I’ll be doing in the next five years, but I do have some sort of an idea. I may be graduating a year early from college with a job lined up, or I may be in search of a place to work after I walk across the graduation stage. It’s possible that I could be continuing to work with The Tab after I finish my college education.
On the other hand, I could find a fantastic news station where I can begin my career in journalism and happily live close to my hometown.
A world full of opportunities
In the long run, it won’t really matter where you think you’ll be in five years. What does matter is the fact that you’re considering all your options. We see a path and we take it even when we have no idea where we’re going.
So in that case, do the things that you enjoy and can see yourself doing for the rest of your life.
And the next time someone asks you where you see yourself in five years, don’t think you have to have a perfect answer for them.