Seniors, do not be alarmed.

The thought of college and a career path even appeared frightening to fellow teachers at first.

For AP biology and psychology teacher, Loren Schwinge, it was a confusing time.

“I was undeclared when I first entered college, and then pledged biology with the intent of becoming a vet. After doing some clinic work I realized that wasn’t for me, but then fell in love with studying brains.”

Teaching was never her original plan, she said.

“I honestly had no plan. I only decided to become a teacher my second semester of my last year of school.”

For history teacher Ariana Rodriguez, things didn’t start to become clear until the end of college.

“I decided to become a history teacher when I was a senior in college. I had such a good experience in high school and I really admired my U.S. History teacher, Mr. Johnson. I wanted to be just like him, and how he connected with his students. It didn’t hurt that I love the subject matter I teach.”

“I intended to go into industry when I got my degree; I didn’t consider teaching for many years,” said chemistry teacher, Mark Kent, who was on a different path for many years, “and in fact I was an industrial chemist for twenty-four years before I considered teaching.”

It took many years for Kent to reach his current career path, “While I started as a quality control chemist, after two years I moved to research chemistry. After another two or three years I moved to process chemistry, and I was there for the rest of my career.”

Kent advises that graduating seniors participate in courses in other fields in college because they, “give exposure to other things that might prove to be even more interesting than your chosen major and can lead to a whole different plan for your life.”

Schwinge’s advice to graduating students is to understand that the major you declare does not necessarily define your future.“

Don’t feel like you have to have it all together! I had no clue what I was going to do my senior year of high school, but it all turned out okay for me. Just try lots of things and be open to your current plan changing. A lot,” she said.