The question seems inescapable. I remember the question as it appeared to me after high school when it sounded something like, "You barely made it out of high school, what are you going to do now? Community College? Why don't you join the Coast Guard?" Eventually, that question was answered with, go to college and get a degree. People have always said to me, "you're young, most people don't know what they want to do with their lives at your age, but you'll figure it out...eventually." Now that college has been completed, I find myself staring at the prospect of "now what" all over again.
The Road Here
As a newly minted high school graduate, I had no idea what the next step was going to be. Based on academic performance and desire, the logical choices were: continue at the current job and work your way up the corporate ladder or community college. The community college approach while reasonable on the outside, never seemed to stick post-high school. For the most part what I suffered from was a lack of maturity with a side of focus and drive. Because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, I enabled that uncertainty to dictate my decision making process. And while I pushed completion of my education back substantially, I did gain valuable life experience over the years. I learned what I didn't want to do (make minimum wager for the rest of my life) and used that as motivation to break out of the self-induced rut. By 2008, a return to school was on my terms. In four years I learned a great deal at both the community college and university level. You get from education exactly what you put into it and the more you are willing to learn, to expand your mind, the more fulfilling the experience becomes. At least that's the way it worked for me. From engaging professors to thought provoking courses, my educational experience was both memorable and a proud moment for me. Changing from the young adult who felt he didn't have the intelligence to complete community college to holding a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science means more to me than words can express.
Eventually
College is over now and I've got the degree I so coveted, but in turn I have also added some years to my life. I'm not your typical twenty-two year old college grad, I'm twenty-nine. The good news is, I already have a job. In fact I have done some variation of this same job for the last nine years. My early twenties or the "era of indecision" as I've deemed it, cost me certain opportunities to advance the corporate ladder which was option A. While advancing the corporate ladder isn't out of the question at twenty-nine, (I'm currently exploring opportunities to do just that) time is less in my favor. (I'm not old, I know...I just think of it relative to the education and time spent) I have bills to pay (that study abroad trip wasn't free), I'd like to move out, I want to travel the world and each of these requires money. More than I make at present. And the corporate ladder may take some time to get me to a point where I can become somewhat comfortable (financially). My other option has been to look externally for opportunities based on my work experience and the shiny new degree. Here I've run into a few more problems. For one, finding a job is full time work in itself. Browsing listings, filling out applications, tailoring yourself to meet the needs of a potential employer is all time consuming. Second, while having a bachelor's degree puts me a step ahead of some, I've dropped myself into a pool that is full of eager and determined applicants swimming around like sharks after fresh blood. In the competitive world of today, with the world economies still looking to recover, jobs are available but hard to come by. And that person who has more work experience than you or a master's degree is going to win out. I have found that it is tough to get a foot in the door and even more difficult to get a seat at the table. All things considered though, life is heading in the right direction. One can easily become cynical with the process when it doesn't immediately generate the results you hope for. I can attest to having fallen victim to this a number of times. But I trust that things will work out and have confidence in my abilities and the investments I have made in myself. When the time is right and the opportunity presents itself, I will tackle the challenge and then be ready for the next "now what".
Mission accomplished.
No comments:
Post a Comment