From the moment you are born learning is the only thing you do. You are learning letters and numbers and how those things work together to create words and simple math, then comes science and complex thought. Learning is the only constant in your life. No matter what is going on in the country or at home, you were forced to go to school and at least pretend to learn. Then you went to college, and you go to start learning the things that you actually wanted to learn while you were in school. Your ideas are actually heard and you get to expand your base knowledge down different paths.
After four years and easily the most difficult research project you ever had to do, you are done. The degree is in your hand, cap on your head, and what seems to be an endless list of possibilities. For the first month it is simple joy. You are done, you can actually sleep and go out without worry of missing you eight o'clock class. Reading is no longer filled with note taking and highlighting, but rather happiness and a commonly told plot-line of familiarity,
Then you realize that you need to get a job, but not just any job but one in your field, one that is worth the large sum of money you just forked over and still have to pay back. As you start job hunting you slowly begin to realize that entry level is not actually entry level. It is entry level with five years of being the lowest person on the totem pole in some job that you should have grabbed when you were a freshmen still trying to figure out how to balance a check book.
So what do you now?
Take the job that isn't in your field. I know it isn't something that you want to do, but it is how you get your foot in the door to paying off loans and entering the true adult world. This first job out of college will be your first true job, and your mom should totally get pictures. There will no longer be the annoy time gap in when you can and cannot work, nor will you have to factor in homework time. Most important you will actually be able to hit the forty hour work week which means really money will come your way.
This time in your life is when you truly get to figure out what your life will be. You get to start working towards your field job while taking a break in job that isn't as demanding as what your field job will be. You get to learn skills that can't be taught in a classroom, such as how to deal with rude customers or patrons and unresponsive co-workers. You won't be alone either. Your friends will be going through the same thing no matter the job you all get.
You can hit the ground running, or you can pace yourself.
