Senior Samantha Valeriano has a few words for those that think she doesn't have time to decide what to do with her life.

For the duration of a student’s life there is but one lingering question in mind, “What will I be when I grow up?” For some the answer comes to mind immediately. A doctor, a lawyer, a teacher. For others, like myself, the answer does not appear. Not today, not tomorrow, not the next day, or the day after. Not a year later, three years, five, seven. They demand that I figure it out. My counselors, my teachers, my own family. As if somehow knowing the answer will impact their lives more than mine. While I understand their concern I wish they would just leave me alone. It is my life, why should it matter to them? They tell me time is running out. As if I still do not have plenty of time left. After all, there’s over two-hundred days left until our freedom-ceremony. “But you’re a senior,” they remind me, as if I am not already aware. “Shouldn’t you at least know by now? You’re never going to be successful if you do not figure it out”. There are always going to be circumstances in which people will put you down or diminish your confidence, whether it is intentional or not. However, It is this one particular accusation that bothers me the most. They do not believe in the success of my future. They do not think highly of me or my abilities. They don’t know what I am capable of. Who has the right to tell me what I can and cannot accomplish in life? Some people are tied down to just one career in which they are unhappy and unsatisfied. But not me. I have choices. Endless possibilities, to be exact. When I attend college next fall I want to make sure I make the right decision that I will not regret. On top of that I have the freedom to choose what I want to be. If I want to be a baker, a botanist, a marine biologist, maybe I will. Because I have time, and options, and most importantly the potential to be whatever my heart desires. Meanwhile, those who bother me the most about my decision are stuck with their routine 9 to 5 job that does not pay enough. Their uptight boss who doesn’t work hard enough. Their mediocre lives that aren’t fulfilling enough. But not me. I have the grades to get me into my dream schools. I have participated in more extracurriculars than I can count. Not a lot of people can say these things with such confidence. Those who have known what they wanted to be since they were young decide to switch majors after one semester because they already changed their minds. They waste their money and take out thousands of dollars in student loans just to feel discontent with their ultimate career choices. But not me. I have the drive to become successful in life. I am hardworking and intelligent. I can get anywhere I want in life because I have my whole future ahead of me to figure it out. So maybe I don’t know what my future holds as of the present day. But I do know one thing for sure: my future will be prosperous.