Try the Eggs Benedict If You Want To

In undergrad, it’s about time that you start narrowing in on a major that will determine the rest of your life. Now is the time when you decide which direction you want to go. If you take x class, it will look good on z application and help you get into y school. If you waste anytime, you’ll fall behind your colleagues and lessen your chances of succeeding in that field. The sooner you decide the better. Talk to this person to network for this job. Get a paid internship, but also volunteer, stay healthy and fit, make friends, be home for your family, be in class for your grades…

This is the overwhelming expectation for college students.

Back up to that first sentence. How are we supposed to know what we want to do for the rest of our life when we can’t decide simplest things in life, like what we want to eat for breakfast? At Angelo’s, we change our minds on what we want to eat for breakfast moments before we order our food, even after it’s in front of us. We will be hungry for breakfast tomorrow so why does it matter what we eat now? We exchange opinions, randomly select through “eeny, meeny, miny, moe”, take table surveys…all to decide what to order. Even if there is a general consensus, we still might change our minds.

Some of you are lucky enough to have a favorite menu item on which you set our minds even before you know you are going to Angelo’s. Not once have you ordered another meal or merely given a glance at the rest of the menu. You order the same reuben every single time because it’s good and you like it. Easy…like choosing a career. Some kids have grown up knowing what they wanted to do, and they follow the plan with unwavering confidence. They may have tried other things they did not fancy. Maybe they are content staying in their comfort zone. That is perfectly okay. However, a problem arises when you block out the potential options or even worse, you neglect your desire to explore out of fear.

Why are you afraid?

Something was once concrete, certain, and so close to real. You labored over the planning to reach an endpoint and fulfill a reason. The moment you change your mind, all that planning seems worthless….is it really worthless?

Let’s go back to Angelo’s. One day, you finally open the menu. You decide to try the salmon eggs benedict. Turns out, the salmon eggs benedict is the greatest food you have ever tasted. Instead of just knowing how the reuben tastes, you now also know how the salmon eggs benedict tastes. Think of the different samplings as insight to other walks of life. If you decide you don’t want to go to law school, there is no force holding you back from following what you really want to do other than your own dogged determination. How do you overcome that stubbornness? OPEN THE FREAKING MENU.

So again, I question: “We will be hungry for breakfast tomorrow, so why does it matter what we eat now?” No matter what you eat at Angelo’s, your stomach will be full, and the hunger will be satisfied, but did you enjoy your experience at Angelo’s? Like the hunger, the stress of selecting a career will pass. What matters, were you satisfied with your time spent as you worked towards a career? When you can answer yes, this is when you know you will go back to Angelo’s…and when you have found your career.