Like many people my age, I have been in school for almost as long as I can remember. I always knew what was next in my life. High school after middle school, college after high school, and graduate school after college. Now, a month after graduating from UNC-CH with my Master’s degree, I am at a very strange place in my life. I have no idea where I will be or what I will be doing 6 months from now, which is a pretty scary feeling. But I think knowing I would be at a long-term, stable job in 6 months would be an equally scary feeling. Half of me wants a planned-out path like I am used to, and the other half wants to drop everything and travel without knowing where I am going.

As a scientist, these two options align with two different career paths that are often…