Don’t Know What You’re Doing After Graduation? Good.Sample

Why is it good you don’t know what you’re doing after graduation?

Because “what you’re doing next” is very likely to be impermanent.

If you’re an American in your twenties, you’re four times more likely to change jobs than your parents were. This is the reality of the world we live in, and the trend is only increasing: In 2022, 50 million Americans quit their jobs; in the same year, one out of three Americans between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four reported that they were considering switching to a different career field. Our grandparents tended to be lifers, working for one company and retiring with a pension; our parents changed jobs a few times; you’ll be odd among your generation if you work for the same company for a decade.

I think of friends whose lives took unexpected turns. They read a book, audited a class for fun, grabbed a coffee with that kind man, suddenly lost a parent or a spouse, were told something profound by a mentor, had a baby, went with a friend to their church’s vigil, and life took an unexpected turn. Now, their lives look entirely different than planned. This is, of course, how life always goes, for all of us, at some point or another.

Paige and I could never have guessed even ten years ago that we’d be living in Waco and directing a post-college fellowship (called Brazos Fellows). Even a few years ago, we weren’t sure where this work was going. Discernment, decision-making, choosing between occupational paths—this is work that hasn’t stopped through our thirties. Other close friends, and plenty of alumni of Brazos Fellows, would say the same thing.

In this light, knowing that you don’t “know what’s next” looks rather like wisdom. Life won’t meet your expectations. Your path won’t be perfectly straight. Surprises await, both good and bad. Thinking you know might be a deadly presumption. You know who doesn’t know what’s next? The birds of the air, Jesus tells us, and the flowers of the field. What if our not knowing, instead of being a source of anxiety (which cannot “add one cubit to our span of life”), could become a trusting open-handedness?