My career wasn’t what I planned in college. My advice to new college grads and young professionals.

When I was a freshman at Santa Clara University, I never imagined I would have a career as a public servant. I had played in my high school band and planned to be a music major in college. I dreamt of becoming the lead clarinet in the grand New York Philharmonic, performing on stage before packed crowds at Lincoln Center.

But I quickly realized that I wasn’t destined to be a professional musician. I began to think beyond music and kept an open mind about my future. I explored other interests, channeling my energies into those and switching majors to political science. Later, I enrolled in law school with an eye toward making a difference in people’s lives.

By the time I was in my 30s, I had a burgeoning career as a partner in a prestigious law firm. I had secured a stable, respectable place in my profession and had no shortage of challenging cases, including helping to represent Anita Hill during the 1991 sexual harassment investigation of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.

Then President Clinton came looking for a new U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona and I had a choice to make: I could stay at the law firm and have a perfectly pleasant career, or I could take a risk and make the jump to public service. While the choice is crystal clear in retrospect, at the time I wrestled with whether to give up the career I had worked so hard to build – but ultimately, I believed I could do more good and have a richer professional life in public service.

Serving as a U.S. Attorney confirmed this, and I took the next big step — running for public office — on my own. When the Arizona Attorney General seat opened for election in 1998, I was intrigued by what I could accomplish in that role and how I could improve the lives of Arizona residents.

This was uncharted territory: No woman had ever served as Arizona’s Attorney General. To top it off, I was a Democrat in a red state. Republicans had controlled that seat for decades, and they were not going to relinquish it easily. I knew this election would be a steep uphill battle.

But at the end of the day, I didn’t want to look back on my life and career, and wonder “what if?” So I took the risk and ran what proved to be an extremely tough, hard-fought campaign.

I had a tiny office with one staff member, two phone lines, a card table and some folding chairs. We worked hard to raise campaign funds, and my staff and I pounded the pavement to reach voters at as many parades, community gatherings and barbeques as we could. I stood outside grocery stores on Sunday mornings, greeting shoppers who had just attended church, shaking hands and answering questions they had.

I won that election, and then went on to run for governor of Arizona, winning two consecutive terms.

If I could offer one piece of advice to new college grads or young professionals trying to get closer to their goals, it would be this: Be open to the unknown. Take risks for what you want and what you believe in. Opportunities will come your way; be ready to recognize and seize them, no matter how daunting they may seem.

Thousands of bright, talented young people at the University of California and at colleges across the country will graduate this month, eager to join the workforce and launch their careers. When an opportunity comes, you might question if you’re ready. You might doubt if you have what it takes to succeed. An opportunity might be intriguing, but not be what you envisioned for yourself. You might change course once, twice or even multiple times throughout your career — and that’s OK.

Don’t let that stop you.

The important thing is to keep an open mind. Make the most of the opportunities that are presented to you. Have the courage to pursue your true passions. It may be the best career move you make.