It’s easy to feel lost in transition during your late teens and early 20s. Up through the end of high school, everyone is generally following the same path and advancing toward the same goal of graduation. Then, suddenly, that singular path splits into a million different roads, and you’re faced with life-changing choices to mold the person you want to be in your adult life.

You look around at the people you grew up with. Some are living in dorms and apartments, some are living at home, and some have already bought their own houses. Friends are single, dating, engaged or married. Many have no children, but many have one or two or even three. There are people who work hard at minimum wage jobs for years and people who land a $50K career at a refinery by age 19.

Comparison is the thief of joy. Now that I’m two years out of college, working full time and getting married, I feel I have finally stepped out of that feeling of being stuck in transition. But the truth is, even if I were in school, job searching and single, I would not be “behind” in life.

Everyone moves at his or her own pace. You will be okay.

This week, I learned the newest River Parishes Community College campus will open in Fall 2020 on the West Bank of St. Charles Parish. Penelope Shumaker, former Reserve campus dean, will lead the new campus once it opens in the space formerly occupied by the Boutte Bingo Hall.

There is a River Parishes Community College campus on Airline Highway in Reserve, not far down the road from hundreds of soon-to-be-graduating seniors at East St. John High School. Administrators urge students to take advantage of this resource.

I wish I had understood the value of a community college education when I graduated high school. Many of the programs offered locally take less time and less money to open up a world of potential careers.

When I was mulling over college choices, I was in honors classes with teachers who told me to “for the love of God, aim higher than LSU.” When I announced I was going to Southeastern, there were no negative comments, but I could see the looks on my teachers’ faces. It felt like I aimed “lower.”

Here’s the thing: Southeastern was the best choice for me, financially and in every other sense, and I have no regrets.

These are my main two pieces of advice for high school seniors and young adults:

• Do not judge others for their college choice or lack of it – As long as an individual has goals and is putting forth effort to improve his or her future, that is enough. There are many roads to success.
• Don’t compare your timeline to others – There is no one size fits all schedule you have to follow. Focus on what you need to do and do it to the best of your ability. And remember, life isn’t as perfect as it looks on social media. What you see of a person’s life is often just the tip of the iceberg, so it’s important to be gentle with others.

Brooke Robichaux is news editor for L’OBSERVATEUR. She can be reached at brooke.robichaux@lobservateur.com.

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