Think back to the very beginning of the school year for a moment.

Who would’ve guessed there would be a murder during Veishea, the solar car team would crash or The September 29th Movement would attract so much attention?

At the time of our season openers, who would have imagined Troy Davis leaving Iowa State, the women’s basketball team playing in the NCAA tourney, the men’s basketball team reaching the Sweet 16 or that ISU having a NCAA champ in wrestling? Who would’ve guessed Rob Wiese, Jack Trice, Deantrious Mitchell and Theta Chi would make such big news this year?

Many events throughout the year have changed Iowa State in the past nine months in various ways.

However, have you changed?

Think back to the beginning of the year again. How have you changed?

Maybe this is something you have thought about. Maybe it isn’t.

Either way, we always have a tendency to picture ourselves in a certain scenario. Too often, we visualize ourselves the way we want to be, the way we want people to see us or both.

Frequently, we visualize ourselves in better circumstances than we are in presently.

What we are envisioning is a future that rarely develops how we want.

As students, we have expectations for the following semester, that is, until we run out of semesters. It’s an element of time that could be compared to coming across unfamiliar territory on a road.

If you are a traveler on a road you know well, you expect to see certain signs and landmarks along the way. When you get off this road and go on an unfamiliar backway route, you don’t know where it will take you.

For many students, the road after graduation is still very unclear. There may be options or there may be a big gaping hole waiting to be filled.

The only things to rely on as of now are visions of the ideal workplace, the ideal residence, the ideal partner and the ideal lifestyle.

However, our visions don’t usually correspond to reality. Unexpected events, good and bad, force us to think about things we hadn’t or don’t want to consider.

You interview for a job knowing full well there are people more qualified than you. Do you assume you won’t get the job?

When you expect to find a place to live, do you consider whether you can find somewhere in the first place?

We obviously can’t predict the future, but we should consider every consequence of our actions, both good and bad.

Most of us have alternatives to situations if they don’t work out. Sometimes, we don’t have much choice in our actions. Occasionally, we don’t have any choice at all.

However, in cases where our options are endless, every one should be considered seriously, no matter how trivial or seemingly impossible.

For those who are one semester closer to graduating, just remind yourselves that anything can happen in the next year, from a great job offer to your unexpected death.

We may have bad luck in streaks or good luck in streaks, but this applies to everyone. We are not all invincible or completely helpless.

Life is just a matter of facing the challenges it has to offer one day at a time. The future is ours to envision, but the obstacles it holds are something for us to keep in mind.

After all, there is no one out there living a perfect life. Some of us have one or several dilemmas with which to deal at present.

Everyone ultimately is forced to come face-to-face with challenges. Eventually, it is these that make us change and become stronger individuals in the end.

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Shuva Rahim is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.