Picture this: you're three months from graduating from the greatest university on the planet. Congratulations, first of all, but let me hit you will this terrifying reality: you don't have a job.
Okay so that was scary right? Yeah, I feel you. And honestly a lot of that pressure comes from the people around us.
Our generation seems to be faced with a new-era version of an age-old problem. Everyone wants to change the world. Our lives have become modeled after some manic fantasy that we will all eventually walk into a Starbucks and not even have to tell the barista our names because they will just know it. In a sense this is terrifyingly refreshing. We all long to become someone important. Which is 100 percent understandable, but we have become a product of our own deposition. In an age where experience is crucial, how am I anywhere near qualified to change the world? There is so much pressure put on millennials to exceed the expectations we've put on ourselves that there's almost no winning. We have so many modern-day skills with one problem: lack of jobs. We've had to create our own opportunities, but that's hard to do when you have no direction.
But don't misinterpret my glaring negativity. I'm simply trying to prove that in our society today, it's more common to know what you don't want to do rather than what you do want to do.
A lot of kids will go through college waiting tables or working at the front desk of your local hotel, but obviously that's not why we came to get our degree. We pay the bills right now (barely) but we're also stuck in this hectic lifestyle that is adulthood. I mean, four years ago we had to ask our teachers if we could go to the bathroom and now we're doing our own taxes? No thank you. Yes, we are "adults," but I still call my mom every time I need to go to the doctor. I am growing up, but I'm not grown.
In the last four years, I've changed by major twice and have spent ample amount of time trying to find my identity and what I could be good at. What I am good at. But now that I've finally found it that doesn't mean I fit perfectly into a formal, working-class position. I don't know exactly what I want to do, but I can tell you what I don't want to do. I don't want to come home to my family at Christmas without a career they would be proud of.
Speaking of which, please, for the love of God, stop telling me "it's about time to decide." I know this believe it or not, and every time you remind me a little piece inside of me dies. Anytime I tell someone my major I hear the question, "So what do you want to do with that?" and the harsh reality of my unpredictable future comes roaring back. Listen, I don't know yet. I wish I did, but I don't and I know that I should. I appreciate everyone being concerned about my future but I'm not ready to worry yet. Honestly, how many people my age know exactly where their life is heading? (I hope the number is as small as I think it is) *Crosses fingers*
I know growing up isn't something that's just recently started happening to our generation. And I know a lot of people my age do have the next few years of their lives mapped out. Good job, smokin' fiancee, on their way to adulthood - but I can tell you right now I do not fall into that category.
Yes, we've put this pressure on ourselves to become memorable people, because in the world we live in today that's seemingly what matters. And while "pressure" tends to be accompanied with negativity, let me tell you the good news about us: We thrive under pressure.
Everyday I strive to make something of myself, and I feel like I've achieved that to a point. No, I haven't been a perfect child, I haven't made the best grades or the best decisions, but everything I do I do to the best of my ability. Everything I do moves me to the next phase of my life, be it large steps or small. So please stop asking me what I want to do. What I want to do is make those around me proud.
