By Sarah Garrett
In high school, it seems like everyone has a dream of what their life will be like. Kaitlyn Garrett, my sister, Lovett alum, and once editor-in-chief of the OnLion, seemed to have her whole life planned out when she graduated from Lovett.
In fact, Mr. Newman said she used to give detailed updates in newspaper class on her plans for her future careers, spouse, what their wedding would be like, the number of children she would have, where she wanted to live, and even more.
I sat down with her this past weekend when she was home from college to see if her life plan was going as expected.
A lot of the time, people plan their lives without considering all the inconveniences and unexpected issues that may occur, for example, Covid-19. “I wouldn’t say Covid threw off my life plan, but it just shows that nothing in life is guaranteed, and definitely made my senior year and freshman year of college go differently as expected,” Kaitlyn said.
Kaitlyn originally dreamed of getting married at 23. “I mean could I still technically get married at 23? Sure.. but I don’t necessarily want that to happen so soon,” Kaitlyn said “I think I overestimated age and how mature I would be at certain ages. Turning 23 this year, I do not think I am ready to be engaged, but I think that’s okay.” As we are growing up, it seems like a lot of the milestone ages are far away, when in reality they are just around the corner.
In society today, it seems as though everyone is in a rush to get their lives perfectly sorted out. Lots of people can’t wait to settle down and have kids, fantasizing about being a parent. That was Kaitlyn in high school. But she realizes now that it’s OK to take her time. “I don’t think in order to be happy I need to be married at a certain age,” she said. “I think I definitely will be married by my mid-twenties, and I still want kids and a family, but I am okay with taking my time to find the right person.”
Kaitlyn has also realized that getting older doesn’t necessarily mean that you are more prepared for certain things. “I think preparation comes from experience and really has nothing to do with age. One of my favorite Taylor Swift songs says ‘How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?’” Kaitlyn thinks that Taylor is really onto something there. “I definitely think that the older that you get the more you realize that certain things that you wanted by a certain time probably don’t need to happen,” Kaitlyn said.
“Honestly, I don’t even think the person I am going to marry is in my life yet. I’m only 22!” she said.
Although the age Kaitlyn wants to get married may have changed, a lot of her other goals for her life plan have stayed the same.
“I still dream of the same wedding…something classic and romantic. I still want three or four kids, I can’t wait to be a mom… and secretly I still dream of living on a prairie,” Kaitlyn said, laughing.
