MIRANDA BROOKWELL/Youth Correspondent
“The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.” - Abraham Lincoln
Thank goodness for that. As obvious as it is, I can never accept the fact that my future will not come crashing down on me like an avalanche.
For me, these summer holidays are always used to catch up on my life. I finish to-do lists, catch up on sleep, and prepare myself for the coming school year. And then it hit me — I only have one left. Wow.
I can’t believe that Grade 12 is already here for me. Even if it only comes one day at a time, that doesn’t really help me — I can’t help but feel incredibly unprepared. What am I going to do with my life? Where will I go? What will I wear to grad? Wait — I’m graduating? When did I get to this point? It seems like only yesterday that graduating seemed so far away that it was almost fictional. Back in the days where the answer to, “What would you like to be when you grow up?” was “A princess” and that was perfectly acceptable. Sigh. That dream seems a little farfetched now.
I’ve recently begun the mountainous task of planning this future of mine. I’ve been researching schools and scholarships, pricing out vehicles and residences, and trying to figure out how any of this will work out. Somehow, I’m trying to combine my passions with something that will give me enough income to live. That’s the worst part by far — deciding which dreams are realistic, and which ones might have to be let go, or at least postponed. This whole process is going to give me wrinkles in my grad pictures. How wonderful.
Then I remember President Lincoln’s quote. One day at a time — my new mantra when things get tough. Thankfully, I’m surrounded with amazing people and resources to help me along through each of those upcoming days; people who are going through the same challenges, and people who have already made it through this time of transition.
As I see this new chapter of my life fast approaching, it’s helpful to remember that it really isn’t coming that fast at all. Only one day at a time. Although we can’t buy time, we can choose how we spend it, so let’s spend this last year of high school enjoying what we’ve been given these past 12 years, and looking forward to our incredibly bright futures.