You Don’t Have to Know What Comes Next

Senior year has a funny way of making everyone suddenly very interested in your future. It seems like everywhere you go, someone is asking where you’re going to college, what you’re going to major in, whether you’re staying close to home, or what you want to do for the rest of your life. Most people are simply trying to make conversation, but when you hear those questions over and over again, it can start to feel like you’re supposed to have a much better answer than, “I’m still figuring it out.” I photograph seniors every year who already know exactly what comes next, and I photograph plenty who are still trying to decide. Both are completely normal. There is no prize for being the first person in your class to have a college picked out or a career mapped out, and deciding later doesn’t mean you’re behind. At 17 or 18, you’re still learning what you enjoy, what you’re good at, what kind of life sounds appealing to you, and even what you definitely don’t want. That last one can actually be pretty helpful.

I think social media has made this part of senior year harder than it used to be because you’re constantly seeing everyone else’s big announcements. One friend posts a college acceptance, another announces a scholarship, and someone else already seems to know their major, roommate, and dorm decor before Christmas. What you don’t see nearly as often are the seniors who are deciding between two schools, waiting to find out what they can afford, wondering whether college is the right choice at all, or changing a plan they were absolutely certain about six months ago. There are far more people figuring things out as they go than it probably feels like when you’re scrolling through your phone.

Parents can take a little pressure out of this season, too, especially because there is already so much packed into the final year of high school. There are applications and deadlines to keep track of, graduation expenses that seem to pop up out of nowhere, activities coming to an end, and a calendar full of things that suddenly have the word “last” attached to them. Of course you want to know what your child is thinking about next year, but sometimes giving them room to explore an idea without immediately turning it into a plan can lead to a much better conversation. They may need to say, “I think this sounds interesting,” without feeling like they’ve just committed to doing it for the next 40 years.

If you truly have no idea what you want to do after graduation, there are plenty of useful things you can do without making a huge decision right away. Talk to adults who actually work in fields you’re curious about and ask them what their normal workday looks like. Spend some time researching community colleges, trade programs, apprenticeships, and four-year schools so you understand what each option really involves. If you can shadow someone for a day or get a part-time job in an area that interests you, even better. Sometimes experiencing something in real life tells you far more than another afternoon spent Googling careers from your bedroom. This is part of what I love about senior photography, because your senior session doesn’t require you to know who you’re going to be five years from now. I get to photograph who you are right now, during this really specific little window between the life you’ve known and whatever comes after it. Maybe you’ve spent years playing a sport that has been a huge part of your life, you practically live at the barn, your truck is your favorite possession, or you have a style your parents would recognize from a mile away. Those are the things I want to remember with you, because your senior pictures should belong to this chapter instead of trying to predict the next one.

I also hope seniors give themselves permission to actually enjoy this year while they’re making all of those decisions. Go to the games, take the pictures with your friends, show up for the traditions, and spend time with the people who have been part of your everyday life for years. Let your parents get sentimental when something catches them off guard, because I promise there will be moments when they look at you and suddenly see the little kid you used to be. There is plenty to think about when it comes to your future, but you don’t want to get so focused on what happens after graduation that you miss the year leading up to it.

When you come to me for senior photos here in Humboldt, you don’t need to have a college sweatshirt ready for a picture or an exciting answer when someone asks what comes next. We can celebrate the person you already are and everything it took to get you to senior year, because that is worth documenting all by itself. Someday you’ll know what came next, and you may even laugh at how different it was from what you expected. For now, though, it’s okay if the next chapter is still unwritten.