The deck of cards we’re dealt determine much of the first few years of our lives. Once we begin talking and thinking on our own, we start to form ideas that will subconsciously stay with us for the rest of our lives. One of the most common psychological debates happens to outline these sets of circumstances in our lives: Nature vs. Nurture.

From birth on we’re given a strict set of guidelines we must adhere to until we become an “adult” at the strapping young age of eighteen. From pre-school, to elementary school, followed by middle school, and finishing with high school, we’re pretty much on a set path until we graduate. For the first time in our lives we will choose the path we want to take, other than if we want to study Spanish or German, or what extra-curricular activities we want enroll in. We’re now faced with one of the hardest decisions we’ve had in our lives thus far, although adults have been asking us since kindergarten: What do you want to be when you grow up? We’re supposed to have a solid answer, choose a program at an accredited university, possibly leave our hometown, and onward from there. Mind you, our brains don’t fully develop until the ages of 21-25, dependent on gender, scientists (and the general consensus) say.

Forthwith, from a very early age on, you are, whether you like it or not, a product of your environment. Our first major choices led us to college, with our lives our similarly mapped out until graduation, which then guided us to make the greatest decisions of our lives yet again. This time, things are different. You finished your degree, but something else just as important happened along the way. Your brain is developed now. You can taste freedom and liberty in the air. As a college graduate you are faced with many life-changing decisions: which career should I pursue? Should I accept that job offer? Should I move back home or start a life in a new city? This is the first time in our lives we will cultivate truly our own environments; thus you will become a product of your own environment.

I am at this stage in my life right now, and I can say it feels pretty good to be the master of my ship and captain of my fate. Barreling steadfast down the highway to my future with a blank slate and my fully developed brain, I’m ready for wild ride of this long life ahead of me.

Do you remember the last time you started something with a completely blank slate? Maybe a new job, a new house, a new relationship… Do you think this stage ever truly ends or can the mindset carry on? Any advice to recently graduated students like myself? Namaste, x!