What's Next?

Nissim & Ahmed: One thing across all ages of life, that cannot be debated, is how uncertain and unpredictable things are. Whether a senior in high school or a middle aged balding male, life will throw whatever it wants too in your path. There’s absolutely no way around that. The unpredictability may not bother some, but may be a source of intense stress for others. Not having things mapped out while your peers or people around expect you to, may be something you dread. Just because you don’t see the yellow brick road others might see, does not mean you’re never going to find the road to take you where you want to be in life.

Don’t fall for the BS they feed you. Never compare your own life goals and successes to another person. No matter how much some may glamourize their lifestyle and future plans; it's impossible for anybody to have every step of their life figured out. It’s false, it's a charade. Don’t let that discourage you from forming your own plan and gnaw at your intent to stick to it. Just keep in mind, life throws breaks for nobody. Anybody and everybody can get it.

Nissim: As a seniors in high school, we are often asked what school we intend to go to and what major we would like to pursue. In my sophomore year, my answer was “I don’t know yet but maybe something having to do with English.” Unsurprisingly, I was filled with uncertainty but I felt like I had all the time in the world to figure out what I wanted to do. In the end, all I wanted was to be living lavish with someone cutting the little green things off strawberries and feeding them to me. Now in my senior year, I’ve been fortunate enough to go through many opportunities to finally see what I want to make of my future. I want to be a doctor. English and the medical field are leagues apart but that goes to show that nothing is written in stone. Months away from my high school graduation, I finally know what I want to do with my life and I know it will not be easy, but if it was easy, everyone would do it.

Ahmed: As for me, I thought I had life all figured out. I always told myself that I’d play basketball and live the easy life. No ordinary jobs. No ordinary responsibilities. No ordinary work. I wanted to take the easy road to fame and a lavish lifestyle. Reality smacked the shit out of me. Part of me really wanted that because everyone else I knew wanted it, and the other part of me was running away from the challenges and responsibilities, I would inevitably face. I realized I had a ton of potential and desires that I was throwing away for a lifestyle that would've ended up crippling me in the end. A lifestyle I THOUGHT I wanted to live. I had a knack for dumbing myself down and underachieving my first three years of high school. Settling for subpar grades because my response was always “ I’m going to school for basketball, it doesn't matter anyway.” Uncertainty sprung at a time when I truly needed it most. I sat in basketball practice one day completely zoned out, just thinking to myself, “ I don't even want to be here”; “ Why am I doing this right now.” People always referred to me as “ the kid who plays ball”, and that isn’t who I truly am. I look back on that stage of my life as finding out who I really was deep down and what I ultimately want to do. Similar to what Nissim said, I’ve been through so much and experienced life in a variety of different ways in my short 17 years, to finally realize my goal. I want to be GREAT! I want everything! The lifestyle i'm striving for will come from nothing but HARD WORK. As many of you may know by now, that isn’t a problem for me at all. Have to grind now to shine later. #StrivingForGreatness!

It may feel incredibly disheartening to see your friends attack the uncertainty that life presents us, with a clear cut plan. It may hurt to realize you don’t truly know what you want to do in life. It may depress or fill you with anxiety to think about the future. We’ve both been there.  We can promise you that when things finally fall into place with a little effort of your own, the weight on your shoulders will lift and you can take the most relieving breath you have taken in ages. If you need to alter your plan to reach your goals, don’t hesitate and never be afraid of change. Keep one thing in my mind always; If it were easy, everybody would do it. Success is 90% Preparation, and that last 10% is Persistence. The ability to keep going even when you don’t want to should never be underrated. Be ready for the opportunities and chances life gives you and take it head on. You do not need to live to match another’s success, just fulfill yourself, nothing more simpler then that.