“What’s your plan?”

“What’s your next step?”

“Do you have a job for after graduation?”

The barrage of questions hit me like an incoming grenade, splitting off into all directions, the shrapnel ricocheting through my body and mind. Undergraduate seniors are survivors of the overwhelming feat that is post-grad questions at family holiday gatherings. The future was all that seemed to matter. By Easter with no set plans ahead, my eyes would glaze over at these questions; my mouth spoke its rehearsed responses and my mind wandered.

I have pictured myself parting a curtain of leaves as I trek through the Amazon Rainforest with a team from National Geographic. I have imagined myself standing at a podium, delivering a call to sustainable action and a revitalization of humankind’s relationship with nature. I have envisioned my name on the cover of a New York Times Bestseller.

The destinations of my dreams have a multitude of “right” paths. The next step is picking a path to start on. That is why it is called a step.

Thinking about this step has led me to ask myself two major questions:

1. What career will bring me personal fulfillment?2. In what way can I make an impact through that career?

Because a career is often a reflection of identity, an important step in determining what job will be most personally fulfilling is a self-evaluation. What are my strengths and skills? What areas of myself do I want to grow in? How do I want to be challenged? What past positive experiences or opportunities have excited me? What makes me tick?

In answering these questions, I find it helpful to revisit my childhood passions. I loved animals, writing stories, and going on adventures to new places. These passions have not faded but have rather grown and developed as I’ve gotten older. They continuously inform the attributes and opportunities I seek in a career – to spend time outdoors with wildlife, to travel and to share my passion with others through writing.

Humans have a strong inherent desire to connect to something deeper. As an individual, I want to have a more global impact through my job. I consider the atmosphere, community and my own set of values and ethics and determine whether the job and position aligns with what I am seeking. I ask these questions: How can my actions, my job, my dreams, make a difference? How can my career give me that deeper connection?

Time is valuable. I don’t want to simply trade it for money. I want a reason that ignites and motivates me to work for my career. Thinking about that next step is a deeply personal process, not to be flippantly discussed over holiday appetizers. I hope both to give to and receive from a career.

Pedro Arrupe, a Jesuit priest, perfectly sums up how we should all approach taking a new step in our careers:

“What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.”

As an upcoming graduate of St. Joseph’s University, my Jesuit education has instilled in me a desire to do what I am passionate about and to make a difference through my actions. My next step is ignited by my passions and imagination.