Picture this. It’s senior year of high school. Everybody is applying to colleges and realizing that they probably should have tried a little harder in AP English last year. Resumes are compared, essays are revised, GPAs are ranked. Tensions are high. But not for me. I wasn’t stressing. Not at all.

I had automatic admission to my top choice in-state school, The University of Texas at Austin. Financial restraints kept me from setting my eyes on any college other than one that was in-state, so my decision was pretty easy. Both of my parents graduated from UT, so naturally I have been a Longhorn my whole life.

But here was the tricky part — I had no idea what to major in. No idea in the slightest. I decided my best bet was to apply for a fairly new major option that UT offers called Undergraduate Studies, Undeclared. Basically, a major that isn’t a major at all. The beauty of this was that I had bought myself some time, at least a year or so, to figure out what it was I actually wanted to do with my life. So, my senior year was a breeze. I knew where I was going and what major I was accepted to from the very beginning.

Next Stop: College

Now let’s fast forward to freshman year of college. Things start to get real. I begin to learn that college is a lot different from high school. My first semester, I take classes with the belief that I wanted to go into Communications. I took Government, Psychology of Advertising, Geology, and a UGS course (a specialty UT freshman course) called Sleep: Are We Getting Enough?.

I did well in my courses. I thought they were interesting. But that’s it — just interesting. There wasn’t any passion sparked. No excitement to further my path in communications and advertising. Feeling lost, I decided it wasn’t for me.

Nursing

There is no one single moment that I can point to where I said “Yes, nursing!”. After my first semester, had an “aha” moment as they say, and realized it was really time to get my crap together and figure out what I was supposed to be doing. Time and money were wasting. So I took a personality test — yes, a personality test. At the top of the list of suggested professions, was nursing. I started to think about it. Nursing was never something I had considered in the past. Actually, I had said that the medical field was never something I wanted to pursue.

My gut told me I should give it a chance. I never really had before. I sort of “knocked it before I tried it”. I needed to try it. The next day, I applied for a volunteer position at a local hospital.

My second semester I took Chemistry, Biology and Statistics. All nursing core requirements, and tough ones I might add. I also began my volunteer position. I sort of went all in on this nursing thing. But, as you may have guessed, it paid off. I learned so much that semester, not only in my classes but also about myself. I found an interest in science that I never had before. I learned that serving others brings me enormous joy. I realized that nursing was so much more than needles and medications.

It’s Okay To Not Know

Figuring out who you are is hard. It’s almost like trying to complete a puzzle blindfolded. But let’s be clear: not knowing is normal. I will be entering my last year of nursing school beginning this fall, and I still have no idea what I am doing, where I am going, or who I am going to be 5 years from now. I’ve learned that the best thing to do is embrace the unknown. Throw yourself into new experiences and situations. The journey is what allows you to get to know yourself and find things you likely would not otherwise discover. All the best things in life come from taking chances and embracing change.

We’ll talk soon.

Much love,

Lovisa Kay