I Don't Know

When I was at the GLSEN conference about a month ago, one of the workshops that I went to was about why we say “I don’t know.” We talked about why people say it, and what can be said instead that will be more helpful. This workshop really struck a chord within me, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently, especially in regards to college and my plans after high school.

Most of the time, when I get asked about college, I say “I don’t know.” In this case, I am using “I don’t know” because I don’t want to tell them the answer. I actually do know exactly what is important to me in a college, and after significant research, I’m also pretty close to finalizing the list of schools I am applying to. I just don’t want to share this list with people who don’t really care where I am going, and are only asking me so that they can make judgments on me based on the schools that I am interested in.