“I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else,’”

— Toni Morrison

The end of my formal education is upon me.

Less than a year from now, for the first time in 22 years, I will be done with school with no current plans to continue.

I’ll officially be a completely self-sufficient adult.

On the eve of the beginning of my final year of grad school, I’m finding myself both scared for the future and excited to see what the me who is not plagued with hours of homework and classes looks like.

A year ago I would have had no clue at all what she would look like. I probably had no clue even six months ago. My answer to what I wanted to be after college changed weekly at worst, monthly at best. Slowly I’m finding myself worrying less about what I’m going to be and more about where I’m going to be.

I know I’ll be happy and healthy. I know I’ll be striving to be a more intentional and thoughtful person. I know I’ll be loving whatever path I’m on. It’s much easier to make a plan for the future when you think about where instead of what you’ll be doing.