The message often received in high school is that you have
to work hard to get a job. The problem is, I’ve seen plenty of
people get jobs, but then what? Is that it? Of course not. I know people in the
working world who can’t manage multiple tasks. I know teachers who struggle to
communicate with their students. I know people who are in leadership positions
and fail to lead. All these people have high school diplomas and college
degrees. So what’s the problem?
Life after graduation is a process, not an end goal
For those of you with graduation on the mind, you’re
probably planning for that next step. From job interviews to graduate school
applications to “just winging it,” all students strive to keep the freedom
they’ve experienced in college-going, to make sure good times never end. The
world’s ours once we’re done here.
Right?
Sadly, that’s not the case for most of us, especially in
this economy. We might think we’re definitely not moving back home after
graduation, but being part of the “Boomerang Generation,” it’s a reality many
of us will face as we deal with periods of unemployment or entry-level jobs
that don’t pay enough. Many getting those jobs will think of them as temporary,
telling ourselves we have bigger dreams, only to find ourselves staying there
year after year in a listless rut.
Graduate school is a nice way to avoid the real world for a
few more years, but unless one’s work involves cutting-edge research with tons
of funding, graduate students often find employers reluctant to hire them and
universities sending them through a rat race for hopelessly out-of-reach
faculty jobs.
It’s not that we’re graduating to find nothing: It’s that
many of us are graduating to realities our studies haven’t quite prepared us
for. The world is seemingly ours for the taking, but the world also seems a
little temperamental right now.
Coined the “quarter-life crisis,” this condition of anxiety
in 20-somethings describes a contradictory reality where those who’ve
experienced success throughout their school lives graduate only to find a
poisonous banality taking root. With the task of maintaining a three-point-something
grade point average throughout college as a fairly common achievement, it’s
easy to fall into an unreliable sense of security that good grades will be
rewarded with good careers.
Expectations students build up during school (100K starting
salary, finding your soulmate, etc.) are being crushed now more than ever
because of increased competition and the rebuilding the economy. Many students
maintain their expectations with a sense of hope in a merit-based society and,
thus, upon graduating and spending a few years in jobs they don’t consider
careers, feel a deep sense of disappointment when those expectations aren’t
met.
This sense of disappointment causes a painful confusion and
stagnant lifestyle that makes many 20-somethings sigh dozens of times a day.
Young people are supposed to take life by storm, but it’s difficult because of
the option overload that threatens one’s sense of identity and desires.
This overload contributes to the stressful illusion that we
can do anything — study for the Graduate Record Examination, write a book,
apply to the Peace Corps — and fills us with shame when we don’t do it all.
More than ever in today’s state of affairs, students should
realize that their education isn’t the primary ticket to their dreams. To avoid
this crushing anxiety of the quarter-life crisis, students should see the
resources they possess — youth, freedom, hopeful creativity, independence — not
as innate advantages in the job market but rather as tools that need to be
sharpened, that will evolve once they’re no longer in their 20s.
We need to battle the expectations that often suffocate
self-esteem, which will involve making solid and detailed plans to reach the
dream goal and asking for help when needed. Goal-setting and doing one thing at
a time is key to overcoming the pressures of having all this freedom and
independence upon graduating and avoiding being the person who lives in his
parent’s basement.
At the root of all this planning, students should think
about how to define for themselves the ideas of happiness and fulfillment to
avoid a vicious cycle of self-pity.
I like to lift up my drink while I’m having fun and think
how life is really sweet at 20-something. Then I like to think how I love the
work I’m doing and how I can’t wait to do more of it.
Final Word
Many high school students see the diploma and the job as the
final destination. The truth is the diploma and job are just the beginning of a
lifetime of learning. Most people end up getting that first job, but many don’t
do the job well or don’t enjoy the work. They feel
confused about which city to live in, how to make friends in that city, and
whether living in that city really makes financial sense. Climbing up the
academic ladder is a series of planned out steps. You take the SAT and climb up
a rung. You get into college and climb up another. You graduate from high
school. Your professors give you assignments and exams. With each one you
complete, you make your way to the top of that ladder until graduation day. Now
you’re at the top of the tree when all of a sudden, the ladder gets removed
from under you, and you have to figure out a way to get down. There are no more
rungs laid out for you. There’s no next graduation or homework assignment.
There’s no moving on to the next grade. Professors and advisors aren’t telling
you what to do anymore.
That’s where those skills from school—critical thinking, organization, communication, grit, self-reflection—come in. They help people to keep learning and to figure out what the next best steps for them are. People have to get truthful with themselves and think about what actually gets them excited and motivated. They have to create the path for themselves for the first time instead of letting others create it for them. They do this process again and again for years and decades. To say the end goal is the first job is foolish because it’s actually when the real learning begins.