Just go: an alternative future awaits

As graduation creeps, or rather speeds, closer there is an age old question that is probably near the front of many of you seniors’ minds. What comes after graduation? Where do you go from here? A job is typically the answer to that question and depending on your major that job may differ. Although many people will graduate this spring, leave the state or area, and find jobs elsewhere, there are many people that will stay in Nebraska or this area.

What if there was an option to go somewhere different and try something completely new? Even if it had little to nothing to do with your major, is leaving everything behind to live in a remote area something you would be interested in?

Lately I have become frustrated with the constant cycle of the daily lives that we are all supposed to live. Wake up. Go to work. Eat. Go to bed. Why to we subject ourselves to this monotony? As I was venting about this to an older man that is a good acquaintance of mine, I said that I was going to drop everything, move to a remote island, rent a small bungalow, and work at a farmers market or something.

While I would really love to do that, I had never looked at it as a legitimate possibility. However, this man, who actually rode across the United States on horseback in his mid 30s, stopped me and said two words that have made me reevaluate.

He said, “Just go.”

He continued and told me that there is absolutely nothing wrong with dropping off the grid and doing something that I want and he even said that if I really decided to do it that he would give me the advice I needed and support me.

I should mention that he also stressed the importance of having a backup plan, but in the light of my new plans after college, that is in the far back of my mind. How exciting is it to think that I can pack up and leave the crazy and hectic life here to go do something that I would thoroughly enjoy? To me it is a breath of fresh air.

Lately my parents, my father especially, has been hounding me about what I am going to do when I graduate in a mere eight months. I have been giving him textbook answers about communication jobs I have heard about from my professors or from speakers. On the whole, he has been unimpressed and has urged me to figure something out that is feasible.

Last week, I told him that I was going to buy a Winnebago that I found for $1,000 that runs well and travel until I found a job that I liked, and for the first time, he told me that he liked my idea.

I think I may be onto something. The people in my life that I run my biggest decisions by are all supporting my idea to travel and get away from the general hubbub.

Here is my charge to you: if you want to live a monotonous life forever, then that is your prerogative, but if you, like me, want to get away from it all… just go.