What is something you wish you could tell your 20-year-old self?
At 20, I thought life was a linear progression. You chose your path, dedicated yourself to it, and then walked it. The challenge was to make the right decision early, commit to it, and stay faithful.
At 20, I knew what my passions were. I wanted to study the Bible and dedicate my life to some form of ministry. I expected to spend my life in parish ministry. I think I would have been perfectly happy and content doing that.
But life is not quite like that. It is more like a series of paths, detours, blocked roads, unexpected invitations, failures that become learning opportunities, and decisions that only make sense years later.
When I look back now, I realise I have worked in four or five different careers. I started as a computer programmer. I became a parish minister. I worked as a university lecturer. I now serve as a college principal. Along the way I have worked as a maths tutor, and even drove taxis for a while during my student years.
On the surface, that does not look like a straight line. But there has been a thread running through most of it. With the exception of my first job as a computer programmer, which was mostly about getting some life experience in the workforce, these roles have all been concerned with helping people grow and develop.
The settings have changed. The work has changed. The titles have changed. But the deeper concern has remained surprisingly consistent.
This is what I would tell my 20-year-old self. Do not worry about finding the one right path too early. You may know your passions, but you do not yet know the forms they will take. You may know what matters to you, but you do not yet know all the places where that will be useful.
Life is not linear. You do not simply set out a path and walk it in a predictable fashion. Life is full of discoveries, life-changing experiences, surprises, disappointments, and opportunities you could not have planned. That does not mean drifting. It means learning to recognise the thread, even when the path changes.
So I would say: take the next step. Be faithful to what is in front of you. Learn from the work you are given. Notice what keeps drawing your attention. Notice what gives life to others. Notice what remains true across the different seasons.
The path will not always appear clearly ahead of you. Sometimes you only see it when you turn around and look behind.
The Afterword 
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