As you move through this year you are getting closer to a new phase in your sojourn. In order for you to get what you want from life, you need to start visioning where you will be and what it will take to get you there. Think about yourself 10 years from now. Kind of scary for me too. It comes on faster than you think. 10 years seem to go by slow when you are young but once you hit the far side of 30, it goes much faster. Remember this when you hit 30. In order to start you moving let's engage in a planning exercise.
Respond to each of the prompts as fully as you can. I want these responses emailed back to me by Oct. 20, 2:30. This is designed to start you thinking and planning for your future. You all have dreams, aspirations, goals, desires. Here is how you chart a path to navigate through uncertain times.
1. Where do you see yourself one year after graduating from Bioscience? Where will you be living, what will you be doing? How will you be meeting the needs and demands placed upon you by life now that you are out of high school? Food costs money, so do utilities, housing, clothing, transportation. You know all this but now it is starting to fall into your lap. How are you going to step up and face life? Tell me about it.
2. Now jump to 3 years further down the road. You are in your 20's. Hopefully you are 3 years into your college experiences. Where are you, what are you facing in respect to challenges? Are you in a dorm room or driving your parents crazy? Have a place of your own? Where and what are the costs? How is transportation going? Realize the more you dream and desire, the more this will cost. Limited resources and opportunity costs suddenly become dominant themes in your existence. How about marriage? Children? These are realities you need to address.
3. Move into 5 years after high school. Perhaps you have finished the 4 year degree by this time. If so, have you established yourself in the work place? Where? Salary or hourly? Do you know the difference? Are you still in school working on the first degree or moving into the second degree? Housing once again is a concern. You are in your early 20's. Living alone or with some one else? Sharing expenses or are you the sole income provider? Let's get realistic again. What do you think your monthly bills will amount to? How much does this leave you after paying for the day to day existence?
4. Now it is 7 years from your last year at Bioscience. Some of you will definitely be married and I hate to say it, some may also be divorced. Where do you stand here? Children? Some may have more than one. Some none. Where are you in our quest for ZPG? Same questions. Still in Arizona or living elsewhere? What are you doing and where are you heading? How do you meet the demands of life once again? How much are you making and what multiplle challenges do you have to face?
5. Little detours are along the road of life. Most are unplanned. How will you deal with these? For instance, losing a job, losing a love, losing a close family member all can cause you to make a hard turn and move in a new direction, totally different from where you saw yourself while at Bioscience answering these questions. What kind of contingency plans can you make to try as best possible to deal with the unforseen challenges in life? How would you deal with a situation where your employer (hopefully you all have one 7-8 years after high school) presents you with the option of moving, say to Hidden Valley, Nebraska for a $5,000. raise? Do you uproot a family, sell a house and take the money? Tell me how you can face the unforseen and still get what you want from life.
6. 10 years have now gone by. The 52 of you that graduated in 2012 are now planning a reunion. Where will you be as you approach your 30's? What you saw in your late teens is now a distant vision. Tell me about your life and answer the same questions as before. For comparisons sake, use younger (than I) staff members at Bioscience as models. How do you think life has moved for them? Are they where they thought they would be, looking forward as Seniors during their last year in high school? Maybe you can ask them for a little insights in the travels they have had through life. Are there any bits of advice to be garnered from their journeys? How can you use these to move you toward your goals?
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