My Grand Plan!

FRIEDMAN, Sofie. On April 25, 2081, Sofie E. Friedman of Columbia. Sofie was a Cystic Fibrosis researcher and made great strides in developments that helped patients. She was inspired by her sister who battled Cystic Fibrosis and her father who opened his own lab to give her contributions to the field. She was recognized for her efforts when she received the Distinguished Service to Research Award as well as the APA Early Graduate Student Researcher Award. After graduating from American University in 2013 with her undergraduate in Biology, she went on to intern with the head of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Center who, after two years, offered her a full time position. Sofie leaves behind her husband, her son and daughter, and three grandchildren.


I just may be the most undecided student there ever was. I know some of my interests, but still have a hard time picturing myself in four years knowing exactly how I want to spend even just the next four years of my life. So, I took Dana Walker’s advice and wrote an obituary of myself. “Write an obituary; see how you want to live your life.” Frankly, it worked. I now have my fantasy plan that my subconscious can help me work towards. Who knows if this will actually pan out in the way that I want it to, but as Walker stated, it is more important to have that grand plan rather than planning out every small detail about your future.


Her sign up and show up model also had a great impact on me. It shows that taking such a small step and pushing yourself to do something out of your comfort zone can have huge, positive impacts. After all, the only way to move forward and figure out your life is to try new experiences and see what you like and don’t like. After Dana Walker’s speech I feel even more confident that not knowing what I want to study or become later in life can be advantageous now. I no longer feel self conscious to admit to those who ask that I am currently an undecided student. Essentially, all freshmen are right now because even those who feel they know exactly what field they want to go into, most likely will change their minds at some point along the journey. I don’t have to be hindered by my dreams; I can study anything right now to figure out who I am and even who I will be. And that’s pretty darn exciting.