Any serious Zelda fan should recognize that quote up in the title, and what it refers to. But, for those of you who aren't, I'll explain so you'll know where I'm coming from.
The quote is from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and is spoken by Navi (Link's fairy companion) after Link has been sealed away in hibernation for seven years in the Temple of Light. When he entered and first pulled the Master Sword from its pedestal Link was only ten years old, and when he awoke, he was seventeen. Obviously there's a big difference in appearance between a 10-year-old and a 17-year-old, hence Navi's reaction.
Upon first seeing his grown up self, Link is rather shocked, which is kind of the way I feel right now. I don't have the diploma in my hand right this moment, but I finished the last of my high school work yesterday, so I've effectively graduated. I knew this day was coming, obviously, but I never really wanted to think about it. So, now that it's here--"Link! You've grown up!"--I'm a bit shocked.
I guess what it comes down to is that I don't like change. At least not in big ways. But moving on after high school is not exactly small, and with the thought of graduating comes the thought of what I'm going to do afterwards. So I pushed the thought aside in favor of focusing on the day to day work. I didn't want to think about the change.
Of course, I don't have a lot of choice now. I'll soon be getting a figurative (at least I hope it's only figurative) slap upside the head by my diploma, and that's kind of hard to ignore. So my thoughts are turning to what I'm going to do next. And you know what? I still have no clue what I want to do.
College is the obvious answer, sure. You need a college degree to get any kind of decent job anymore, so I'm no doubt going to be attending a university sooner or later. And sure, you don't need to choose a major right away, as you've got a lot of GE classes to get through no matter what you major in.
So what's the problem?
The problem is, if I don't have a goal that I actually want to achieve, I have very little motivation. It feels like I'm working towards nothing. So, if I start college without at least some sort of clue as to where I want to end up, I get the feeling I'm not going to do too well. Or at least not as well as I could. I'm hesitant, then, to apply for college right away.
I'm sure this all sounds somewhat pathetic (it does to me at least), and some people reading this are probably thinking things along the lines of, "Pull yourself together and just do the work." Well, that's easy to say, and I have, in fact, told myself the same thing many times. Results have varied. But this is what's running through my head right now so into the blog it goes. I'm not looking for words of encouragement, pity, or anything else; I just felt like writing out my thoughts.
As Summer vacation begins, then, I have a new project to work on. That is, figuring out what the heck I want to do with my life. Exciting! . . . but not really. I've never liked making a big deal out of things. Wherever I end up, however, it should be an interesting experience in getting there. I hear life generally is.
