The plan

I feel like people are always asking me about my plans. Ever since junior year in high school when applying to college started to become a looming issue, people are pretty much obsessed with asking each other what they plan to do. "Where are you planning to apply?" "Which school are you planning to go to?" Later, "What do you plan to major in?" "What are you planning to do this summer?" "Where are you planning to live next year?" Even in social situations: "So, what's the plan?"

Sometimes I prefer not to have a plan.

Sometimes I have a few different plans, often mutually exclusive.

Sometimes I have a new plan every week. Actually, that happens a lot.

Sometimes I have thought long and hard and have not come up with a plan at all.

But you can't present these as answers in conversation. Even though I do, anyway. Nobody likes that response. It makes people feel uncomfortable and they regret they asked the question, like when you forget you're talking to a homeless person and ask them where they live, or when you ask about someone's boyfriend and it turns out they broke up.

Anyway, what I really set out to tell you is that I have a plan, now. I am going to attend Northern Virginia Community College in the fall, and study to be a Medical Lab Technologist. Those are the people that do the pathology tests on your tissue samples when you're sick. I'm so excited. The field and all the classes are so interesting, and I feel like this is exactly what I've been looking for. Not only that, but because of my bachelor's degree, I can do the program in one year. And in the meantime, I'll be taking one prerequisite class online: Immunology. I can't wait.

So go ahead. Ask me about my plans.