“What do you want to do with your life?”

Whether it was which college you would be attending or what major you would choose, we’ve all been asked a variation of this question at some point.

But I never really paid attention until a few weeks ago, when I was home for winter break — and it turned into an interrogation.

My parents’ usual inquiry about my future was followed by: Have you contacted any employers? Have you done any networking? Are you prepared for interviews? Are you considering graduate school? Where do you want to be?

Not really, kind of, no, maybe, um…

In just six months the UW will no longer be my everyday life, but my alma mater. Come June, about 7,000 of us will be thrown to the wolves of “the real world” — whatever that means.

Maybe I figured if I didn’t think about it, it wouldn’t happen. But as my family so blatantly reassured me, that’s not the case.

Setting out on a career path is inevitable, but as I’ve realized through editing the Career Guide, it doesn’t have to be dreaded. It may not have anything to do with your degree, it may not be in the city where you hoped to live, and it may not have a glamorous title. But it is a culmination of your efforts and decisions — and you should look forward to that.

Here’s to you, Mom and Dad. I may not have answers to your questions yet, but the ambiguity of my future is more a reflection of my excitement for the myriad of opportunities available to me than a laziness to seek them out. Some of us just need a little more time to figure it out. Oh, and thanks for inspiring an excellent story list.

Whether you already have a job lined up for the fall or you just created a résumé for the first time, I hope you’ll use this edition as a tool for figuring out the biggest project any of us have ever procrastinated: life.