I don’t know where I’m going to college. It’s a bit of a sore subject for most second semester seniors who don’t know what the next four years of their lives will look like. It’s scary, and frustrating. Most of my friends have picked a college, met their roommate, and have Amazon lists with all the decor for their dorm. I don’t even know what my dorm looks like yet! While I’m trusting in God’s plan for my life right now, it’s often frustrating to get asked where I’m going over and over. For seniors, an average conversation often includes one, if not all, of the following questions:
“You’re a senior? Exciting! Do you know where you’re going?”
“Do you have a preference?”
“When will you hear back from all the colleges?”
“What schools do you have left?”
“When will you make a decision?”
“Do you know what your career looks like?”
While they don’t mean any harm, I get that sinking feeling in my stomach when my mom tells yet another person that I’m a senior and I have to launch into what has now become a script to the same old questions.
“No I don’t. I haven’t heard back from 3 schools yet.”
“Well I visited Purdue and liked it a lot, but I also like Auburn. It’s hard to make a decision right now.”
“April 1.”
“Stanford, Davidson, and Washington & Lee.”
“I have to decide by May 1, so hopefully before then.”
“I hope to go into research, but that looks different depending on where I go to school.”
It’s hard to keep up hope when you tell 3 or 4 people a day that you have little to no idea what you’re doing with your life. I know most of my friends and family don’t realize how stress-inducing their questions can be, and they just want to know how I’m doing. Here are a few recommended questions to ask a second semester senior instead:
“What’s it like to be finishing up high school?”
“Are you proud of how hard you worked?”
“What are you excited about for next year?”
“What are you excited to learn about the world?”
Along with questions like these, I personally love questions that emphasize the journey instead of the destination. While college is the final goal, graduating high school is such a monumental task, and most seniors would much rather talk about the end of high school than starting a new chapter in their life, especially if they don’t know where that chapter is going to be. Regardless of what questions you ask the seniors in your life, just remember to pray over the journey they’re about to take. Most of all, make sure they know you’re in their corner and support them no matter what.