If I were to go to rehab, it would be for excessive planning.

When I was in elementary school, I made foam hangers labeled with the days of the week. Before a new week began, I would hang up an outfit for each day. By the time this 10 minute process was over, my closet would be filled with perfectly aligned outfits, the Monday hanger, holding a yellow blouse, the Tuesday one, holding my favorite shirt with the puppy on it, and so on.

Eventually, my little process ended, and the foam hangers were discarded along with other clothes that I had outgrown. But as I transitioned into middle school, my outfit planning ritual remained. Still now, I continue to plan out my clothes for the first week of school.

Other aspects of my life have fallen victim to my extreme planning as well. I’ve had my high school schedule pretty much set in stone since freshman year, give or take a few minor setbacks. I’ve inscribed every club meeting and practice PSAT test date I will have for the rest of the year onto the flower-patterned calendar above my desk. I guess it’s safe to say I’m pretty meticulous when it comes to my immediate future.

But when it comes down to my real future, my mind goes blank. I can’t help but wonder about (and agonize over) where I will be in five or 10 years. Will I still be in college? Will I have a job? Will I finally know what I want to do with my life?

Talking to other juniors about their future seems to relieve a little bit of this pressure. Not everyone knows what colleges they are going to apply to or what career path they want to pursue. But every once in a while, you find that one person who knows they’re going to Northwestern to study neurophysiology for eight years and then will graduate, get a job and live happily ever after in a beach house in Florida.

I can’t even begin to try to understand how some people can goof off at school or not even try to make good grades. When you see some teenagers driving recklessly or hear people talk about how they didn’t do any of their homework last night because they stayed up late watching reality TV, it begins to feel like there is an unwritten code in the world of teenagers that tells us we’re invincible and will never have to face problems in the future. I suppose I just never got the memo.

But I guess these students are present in just about every high school setting, and that doesn’t mean they won’t be successful. There’s no way Walt Disney could’ve known when he was sitting in his high school physics class that he’d become a legendary figure in history and that his work would lead to billions of dollars worth of merchandise, movies and amusement parks. Even he was fired from several jobs because he was told he lacked imagination and good ideas.

So maybe it’s possible that I could learn something from these reckless teenagers. When people live somewhat carefree lifestyles, they don’t have to worry about what lies ahead. And maybe that isn’t such a bad thing. If you spend your life not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow or what problems you might encounter, you learn to perfect your capability of facing these unexpected events right then and there.

I guess what any planner really hopes for is the ability to handle any given situation at any given time. And if you can’t predict when these unplanned events may find their way into your life, the next best thing is to be able to handle them when they do arise. I guess in writing this, I’ve come to realize that even though I may be able to plan out all of my outfits in advance, I won’t be able to determine where I will get my first job at this point in time. And maybe that isn’t such a bad thing after all.