Welcome to the Rest of Your Life!

You know, I have half a mind to punch my undergraduate adviser in the nose.

All through undergrad, we students are cuddled, coddled, and encouraged all through the process of obtaining a bachelor's degree. A degree that, we are all assured, will land us some wonderful job in some wonderful city, where we will all become wonderful, worldly, important members of society, who will also happen to donate regualarly to the alumni annual fund. Gee, sounds great, doesn't it? I mean, who wouldn't want that? And, after putting down a cool $35,000 in tuition to a private institution for four years, that seems like something you could come to expect, right?

Well, not really. Now, I don't mean to sound bitter, but our college president's farewell address to the graduating seniors this May didn't exactly leave me feeling all too inspired. He basically told us that we were entering the toughest job market that our country had seen for decades, and that most of us could thank our lucky stars if we so much as got an interview for a plum job. He then went on to say that even though things were in the proverbial shitter, that the exemplary education that we had recieved from our fine institution would allow us to somehow prevail, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, blah blah blah. And that we, of course, should remeber our fair alma mater once we had achieved our respective goals of becoming gainfully employed, and donate liberally to all of their various fund raisers and endowments, etc. Now, I know that the speech wasn't quite as bleak as I painted it, but I don't think you could blame me for feeling a little bitter. I do, however, feel justified in the fact that Chris and I stole a full set of engraved drinking glasses from the event in retailiation. (We hope to someday fill them all with fancy, imported beer, and serve all of our fellow, post-grad classmates with them. When we can afford fancy, imported beer, that is.)

As for my advisor, I love Richard dearly, but I can't help but feel that maybe these wonderful individuals did us a bit of a disservice by filling our head with fantasies of salaried jobs, and sure-fure entry into noteworthy master's programs. First off, no one wants to hire people with an arts background. (Does Starbuck's count??) Of course, being an art major, I saw that one coming a mile away. I was already prepped and ready to be living out of a refridgerator box on the street, as all of my friends enjoyed telling me. So I guess the dashed prospects of having a"real job" after college graduation don't sting quite as much as they would for someone with, say, an accounting degree. It's just a new fact of life, I suppose. One thing that Sonja and I talked about was that we feel lucky to be just starting out in this shit economy, rather than being someone who graduated 10 years ago, started a family, and just got fired from a job that they thought would be a sure bet. (All of the accountants that are getting laid off, anyone?) We're still young, flexible, used to living in rat-hole apartments, and have no families or professional prospects at the moment. Hey, the nice thing about lowered expecations is that you don't get disappointed as often, right? After all, who needs air-conditioning and functional plumbing?? : ) As for a career, I intend to follow that coffeeshop route as far as it will take me. It hasn't let me down so far!