My Five-Year Plan

Anna Dirkse
Sep 7, 2018 · 2 min read

Or Lack Thereof

As a senior in high school, one of the questions I most disliked was the classic and constant, “What are you doing after graduation?” Asked by well meaning parents, parents of friends, orthodontists, guidance counselors, teachers, cousins, mail men, and countless others, the question always flustered me. At first, the answer had to do with which school I would attend, and then what I would study, and then what I would do with my degree(s). Now, as a senior in college, I have answers to two out of the three. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t wish for just one more.


That last answer seems to linger just outside of my grasp. It is like the glow from a streetlight coming from two streets over on a foggy morning; I can tell the answer is there, but I just can’t distinguish it through the haze. There have been glimpses over the last year or two. As I’ve started to think more seriously about what comes after graduation, I’ve had some small revelations, but nothing groundbreaking. I’ve been able to narrow down some possibilities, but still remain unsure as to what the next twelve months should hold. I’m the type of person who likes to have a plan. I like to know what’s going to happen when and what I need to do to prepare for that. The not-knowing is frustrating.

I find it’s hard to answer that question when people ask. I feel like we live in a world that prizes answers and because of that, we’re not very good at waiting patiently to find them. We value knowing and we value plans. We focus on what comes next and pushing ourselves to be better and the most accomplished. I often wonder where to draw the line between working hard and waiting for answers. How can we learn to value hard work along with serious contemplation about one’s purpose and vocation?

I’m enrolled in a “Developing Your Professional Identity” course this semester, and yesterday one of our assignments was to set career goals for the next five years. For someone who’s having a hard time deciding what to do for the next year, a five-year plan seems almost impossible to think about. A lot can happen in five years, things I wouldn’t know to expect right now. I think that setting goals is helpful, but I also think there should be room left to contemplate what comes next. I know that I need to be working hard now in order to do what I’m called to later on down the road but what does one do in the in between time?


Writing this blog post certainly hasn’t provided me with more answers than I had before. However, there’s something helpful in acknowledging where one is and where one wants to be. I’d like to believe there’s growth happening in this waiting, even if I can’t see what it is right now. Maybe five years from now I’ll be ready to make that plan.

Anna Dirkse

Written by

Senior English and Biblical Studies major at George Fox University. Traveler, hiker, lover of books and of coffee. Tune in here for some of those things.

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