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Everyone always wants to know “Where do you see yourself in five years?” It’s an annoying question. No one really knows the answer to it. We make educated guesses or maybe we have a few goals we want to achieve in that period of time but how could we ever truly know where we will be. It’s one of those common questions that I hate to be asked but it is a question that never goes away. I have been asked many times but five years seems too short a period of time to quantify what I could actually accomplish. Also how could I guess at the future when the me now may not even want the same things as the me in two years or four years.
This week I saw things the other way. I had one of those extremely busy, homework heavy weeks. A week that I fondly refer to as a “Hell Week”. On Monday, I thought I would get overwhelmed, stressed, and get a headache from trying to get everything done. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the result at all. I finished everything I wanted to get done when I wanted to get it done. Actually, some times I did more than expected. It was a new experience for me. And I realized that it has been five years since my high school grad interview where I was asked that five-year question. I couldn’t remember how I answered it at the time but that didn’t matter. I thought about who I was then and how much I have grown since then. I am humbler, I am steadier, I am kinder to myself, and five years ago, I would not have been able to conquer a week with this much work.
Looking to the future is important to set myself up for the goals, jobs, and experience I want, but reflecting on the last five years made me feel more ready for my next steps in life. I am more at peace with who I am. I know how I work best, I can forgive myself for procrastinating, and I know when I need to be in a certain environment in order to get a task done. Maybe I didn’t achieve giant steps like buying a car or living on my own but, this past five years, the good and the bad, has been immensely important in making me a more well rounded human.
I wish people would change the question to “How do you think you’ve grown over the last five years?” and “How do you think that growth will help you in your next five?” because I have grown in a lot of ways and I know with certainty that I will need everything I have learned in these last five years to get me through the next.
— Chef Amy