Fundamentals First

There’s something both thrilling and terrifying about planning for university. It feels like standing at the edge of a forest—everyone tells you it’s beautiful, transformative even, but the path forward is foggy. You can see the trailhead, but beyond that? Uncertainty.

And if you’re a student right now, staring at applications, choosing majors, or maybe even preparing to leave home—welcome to the journey.

This post is for you.

🎒 Step One: The Leap Into the Unknown

Choosing to go to university is a big decision. For many students, it’s the first time stepping away from the comfort of family, routine, and familiar faces. You go from a classroom where teachers know your name, to massive lecture halls where it’s easy to feel invisible.

There’s no perfect map for what’s ahead, but here’s the good news: you’re not supposed to have it all figured out.

University is where you learn—and not just about chemistry or economics. You learn how to advocate for yourself, how to manage your time, how to live with people who aren’t your siblings (and maybe how to be someone new).

💡 Finding Your “Why”

The pressure to pick the “right” major is real. People might ask you, “What do you want to do for the rest of your life?” And that question can feel way too big.

But university doesn’t have to be about locking yourself into one path—it can be about exploring what excites you, what challenges you, and what makes you curious. It’s okay to change your mind. In fact, most students do at some point.

Take a step back and ask yourself:

• What do I enjoy doing, even when no one’s watching?
• What kind of problems do I want to help solve?
• What kind of life do I want to live—not just job title, but pace, values, purpose?

These questions don’t always lead to instant answers, but they’re the beginning of understanding your “why.”

🧭 Building Your Own Compass

When you don’t know what’s ahead, it helps to build a compass—not to give you a step-by-step plan, but to help you stay grounded in how you want to move through the world.

• Stay curious: Take courses outside your major. Join clubs you know nothing about. University is one of the few times where you’re encouraged to experiment without pressure.
• Ask questions: No one expects you to know everything. Ask your profs, ask your peers, ask upper-years. Asking for help is actually a sign of strength.
• Find your people: Whether it’s your roommate, study group, or club friends, connection makes the unknown a little less scary. Community is what turns a new place into home.

💬 A Real Talk Moment

You’ll have days where you question everything. Days where you miss home. Days where you feel like everyone else has it together and you’re falling behind.

Let me tell you: you’re not alone. Behind every confident face in the library or perfect Instagram post is someone else navigating the unknown too.

So give yourself grace. You’re learning, growing, becoming.

🌱 What the Unknown Teaches You

Here’s the secret: the unknown never fully disappears. Even after graduation, life will throw you curveballs. But what university teaches you—if you let it—is how to keep moving forward even when the path isn’t clear.

You become more adaptable, more confident in your ability to figure things out, and more grounded in who you are.

So to every student planning for the future: don’t worry if it feels uncertain.

It’s supposed to.

Keep moving. Keep learning. And trust that you’ll find your way.