They always say your 20s are the most exciting time in your life, where you really find who you are, who your real friends are and change for the better. What they don't tell you is that sometimes it's lonely. Sometimes it's hard and sometimes it isn't fun.
I recently graduated, finally finished a time in my life where I struggled to find my voice in a sea of much stronger, outgoing voices. As a PR major, it proved to be difficult to let myself be known among more aggressive personalities. Now that I'm done with school, I'm starting to go through a rough patch where I lack proper inspiration and motivation to pursue what I thought I wanted all throughout school. I think it's something every 20-something goes through, trying to find your passion without having to be taught a lesson and turning in a written assignment for the week.
Having a job lined up after graduation seemed to be the main concern of every professor throughout senior year. It was almost like it was this catastrophic let down if you didn't have these career dreams sorted out before you graduated. I found it to be almost unrealistic for everyone in my position. I worried about it constantly, like I was a failure if I didn't have my entire future figured out before I even entered the real world. I've realized now that that's practically impossible because your future never goes exactly how you plan it.
Right now I work a minimum wage job, not wanting to bum it on the couch living off my mom's money while I figure out my life. I like to keep myself busy with the occasional day off and earn my own paycheck. I think it's important to maintain that responsibility and independence because without it, I'd think it's okay to be dependent on my family's money.
In the meantime, I search for inspiration in everything whether it be music, movies, TV, social media, friends, family, even the small things that make us question why we worry about anything in the first place.
The standards many people my age are held to are ridiculous sometimes. When I tell them I just graduated college, they wonder why I'm working a part-time job, not in the field I want. They don't understand that sometimes you just need a break, a time to really inspire yourself, find out who you are and what you really want to do. It's okay to take time to find yourself, to motivate yourself and to love yourself.
Everyone experiences life at a different pace. Some want to go at high-speed, living it all at once but I want to take my time, make sure I know where I want to be and who I want to be around. It's taken me a while to realize that, to have an epiphany saying "hey, it's alright to just take a little time to not do a thing but be by yourself."
People never really speak about these trials after college, it's like the tests of adulthood. It leads people to believe that they aren't successful unless they land a high-paying career that sets them for the rest of their life. Success differs for everyone, whether it's finding the love of your life or moving to the big city like you always wanted. It doesn't always have to be the high salary CEO job that you don't necessarily love.
