How do I handle the pressure to have my life figured out by graduation?

The narrative you're absorbing—that twenty-two-year-olds should have clear trajectories—is a modern invention, and it's crushing. In my own tradition, we understood that self-knowledge is a *practice*, not a destination you reach by a certain age. You're not supposed to have arrived yet. Here's what I notice: the pressure comes from outside (parents, peers, career services) and inside (your own fear of wasting time). Both matter, but only *your* internal compass actually belongs to you. So separate them. What do *others* expect, and what do *you* actually want to explore? The truth is, you'll learn more about yourself from doing things—trying a major, taking a random elective, failing at something, changing your mind—than from planning perfectly. Your twenties are for this kind of intelligent experimentation. Meanwhile, it's completely okay not to have a five-year plan. Some of the most meaningful paths aren't visible until you're already walking them. Focus instead on these: Am I learning? Am I building skills that feel useful? Am I becoming more myself, not less? Those questions matter far more than having a polished answer about "what's next." Give yourself permission to be unfinished. That's not failure—that's honesty.