Nothing. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, the Scrooge of the New Year, or a Debbie Downer. As college graduates, the passing of time has been reduced to, exactly what it is, the passing of time. I celebrated New Years with some off-brand La Croix sitting on my couch with my roommate in our pajamas. I have rung in adulthood accordingly.
2017 for the class of 2016 was rung in with a realistic view. Perhaps that can be attributed to the current political climate of our nation (you know when we burned democracy at the stake?), but it can also be blamed on our imminent adulthood. Now that we, hopefully, pay our own rent, do our own takes, and make our own doctors appointments, the careless glee of a new year is less enthralling.
What the new year brings us as recent graduates as a concrete time where we can affirm our goals; to decide what is most important to us as we move forward with our "real lives," outside of the confines of a quaint college town. This year will bring forth, perhaps, the most difficult questions we will ever endure. We will have to decide who is worth keeping in our lives, and who we want to continue to run into at bar on the weekends. This time last year I would be sitting in my living room of my lovely house watching Cut Throat Kitchen with my roommates, drinking wine. Now, I just got home from working a double, I'm alone, and I haven't talked to most of the people in that room in months. All of this is fine and normal. We will have to decide whether we want to live close to our families or seek adventure elsewhere. Whether or not we take a high paying job that is ethically questionable, or do something that leaves us dirt poor but with a full heart. Will I get one dog or two? How will I sneak them in my apartment past my super? Can their little legs make it up four floors?
2017 will become our most definitive year, where we decide what kind of person we are going to be. In the best way, it is going to be our most selfish year. While we are seeking answers to all of these questions, we are finding out what makes us truly happy along the way. Despite what we learned in school, there are no right or wrong answers, which is the scariest part. Moving forward there is nothing concrete to come. Even if you have a 401K or a "savings account" nothing is guaranteed moving forward. Most of our "what ifs" and "could have beens" have passed or are currently in the making. We have a finite number of questions left to answer, and that is terrifying.
I supposed 2017 could be the "everything" year as well, but everything seems far more daunting than "nothing," so my answer remains the same. 2017 will be our nothing year. It will be the year we hustle and make shit happen because we are just figuring it out. Make 2018 the benchmark year, because we have not had enough time to live up to our own expectations. The class of 2016 sure has a lot of gusto, so let's do our best not to mess up our nothing year.
