Redirection is a Good Thing: Why Changing Your Post-College Plans is Not the End of the World
By: Brianna Lambrecht
During winter break of my senior year of college, all my post-grad plans came to a crashing halt in the course of 72 hours. In those 72 hours, I received three rejection letters from my top three prospective music schools. To say I felt devastated is an understatement. I was not just sad. I was angry. This anger was rooted in the fact that it appeared for so long God was blessing my time in the field of music only to have it come to a crushing end. Prior to these rejections, there were no signs that this was not the field in which I belonged–only a multitude of successes. So, what was I to do next?
As the sadness began to calm and the reality of my situation sank in, I allowed myself to feel excitement about not knowing exactly what was coming next (not easy for a Type A personality to do). I chose to embody the attitude that this was going to be a redirection to something good. Not better; just good. Oftentimes, in moments of disappointment, we are looking for the next event in our lives to be profound as an explanation for the discomfort we experience. The reality is, God’s blessings and plans may not feel or appear amazing for a while. Recognizing the profound work God has done in our lives takes time; the full picture of what He is doing does not come to fruition right away. If we continue searching for immediate answers to why such-and-such thing happened, we can unintentionally water a seed of deep discontentment.
The halt on pursuing graduate school inspired me to explore my love of teaching. A sidenote, but also something maybe you need to hear as a Hillsdale senior: teaching is not your only option if you do not know what to do after graduating. I am a teacher who loves her job, yet I strongly advocate not to turn to teaching unless it is something that genuinely interests you. Having taught and shadowed teachers in college, I knew this was something I would enjoy, and you should enjoy your job! There are a plethora of job opportunities in the world that you can achieve with your Liberal Arts degree that are not in the field of education. Go explore!
The identity crisis I felt when my career in music came to a pause ultimately gave me the ability to investigate new careers and interests without the pressure of fitting my college major – which ended up being much needed for myself. I plan to return to school next fall to embark on another major career shift. The space to explore the prospect of this career was gifted to me through the redirection I first resented. Additionally, I still sing professionally. Even without singing as my main career, my love for music has been rejuvenated. I have no regrets from studying music in college, even if it was not a practical major by most people’s standards. Studying music allowed me to enjoy my college experience more fully, and I still gained knowledge and skills to help me achieve monetary success post-college.
If you find yourself relating to the general sentiments of this story, please know your life is not ending just because your plans for the last four years changed abruptly or you simply have no post-college plans. Find something that excites you for the time being, even if you know it is not your long term career. Recognizing and believing you have the ability to change careers tenfold will free you from a lot of anxiety. Your major does not define the field you have to stay in. Trust that you have gained some practical, transferable skills in your time at Hillsdale regardless of your degree.
Look at this time in your early twenties as a period to gain new life-long skills and challenge yourself to do new things. Life does not end when that job, relationship, or school does not work out the way you hoped. All the redirections in my life, from transferring colleges to career changes and everything in between, ultimately brought about wonderful things. The experiences, skills, and relationships I have gained in my time post-college were all made possible because of painful redirection. To God be the glory for those blessings.
Brianna Lambrecht | ‘23
Hi there! My name is Brianna, and I am a 2023 Hillsdale alumna. I grew up in the Metro-Detroit area, but now live in the lovely city of Cincinnati. This is definitely one of the most underrated cities in the midwest, and if I never left I would not complain. Since graduating, I have been working as a second-grade teacher at a Hillsdale K-12 school. Working at this school has simply been one of the best things to ever happen to me. In my spare time, I love to read, teach voice lessons, lift, and I currently am a volunteer with my church’s Sunday school. I just completed a half-marathon, and I think that is maybe the end of my running career to be completely honest. The next year of my life is definitely going to be one filled with a lot of change as my career is shifting trajectories, but I am far more excited than anxious about these changes, which is a wonderful thing!
