by Mauranda Men ’16, Feature Editor

Envisioning the future is a common pastime for many people. Sometimes, though, it’s not for self-enjoyment.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” “Where do you want to go?” “What do you want to do?”

Many often feel that they are asked for an image of the future with a higher resolution than they can provide. Mary Kate Drew ’16 clarified, “If you don’t know where you’re going or what you’re doing with your life, people act like you’re automatically going to be a failure.”

At a school like Newark Academy, which prides itself on releasing individuals of a certain type into the world (check out the mission statement before you try to contradict me), it’s no surprise that students feel like they need to always think in the future, for better or for worse. Freshmen are invited to IB Night to check out their course options a few years in advance, sophomores casually count down to graduation in the hallways, juniors usually begin their college search before they’re even juniors.

In response to the multitude of expectations to have a future planned out already, Mary Kate brings up the adverse effects: “If you don’t have an answer, people are upset about it and put more pressure on. You can start to say things you don’t really mean.” Alan Lin ’19 shrugs off the pressure, saying, “Yeah, it’s stressful, but I just don’t have a concrete plan yet and I think that’s okay.”

Which is not to say that students shouldn’t plan ahead. Although they are initially apprehensive, sophomores often feel more informed and certain about their academic track after their sophomore meeting with Dr. D. Juniors are far calmer after meetings with college counselors than they are before. Newark Academy clearly has systems in place to ensure that students aren’t caught in a sudden realization that they’re racing full-speed towards an uncertain destination and absorb the stress that follows. Sometimes, though, not having complete clarity in this environment is itself a source of existential anxiety.

To Ms. Lifson, the right approach should be based on individual knowledge of one’s self. She recognizes that “some students may be so passionate about and so driven by a goal that they already know what their career will be,” and that for those people, stability of mind is achieved through that clarity. She stresses, though, that “you don’t really get to know yourself at least until after college; research has stated that the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until 25, but here we are asking seventeen-year-olds what they want to do with their lives.” Her advice? “Follow your passions, and remember that there are so many things you haven’t been exposed to yet. People can continue to find new things that they love into adulthood.”

Ms. Galvin has noted that there is often a dichotomy in the Senior Projects chosen by NA students: career-oriented exploration into fields that the students already know are passions for them, or embarking into uncharted territory to learn something completely new. This kind of split might reflect the diversity in our certainty about our future pursuits.

Moral of the story: although it’s often demanded of us, beware a lack (or an excess) of resolution about the future.