There are several things that have been on my mind as we enter graduation month.

For one thing it makes me a little jealous that there are people who are about to be done with their college education and I am still going to school. not a bad jealous but more of a dam its awesome that they are almost done I can’t wait until it is my turn to be finished with school. To be able to wear a graduation gown and walk on that stage to receive the piece of paper that made me stress out so many nights and made me wish that I just gave up. BUT it is also the piece of paper that will make my parents proud of me for having completed my education. Yet even a college degree does not guarantee that I will get a good paying job.

Each graduation season I feel like they spit out all of these college graduates that are promised a better future yet they end up working in fields that have nothing to do with what they went to college for, and it is honestly scary.

Of course it really depends on each individual and how much they fight to get the positions that they want but also the work force keeps getting harder and harder. Companies want to hire people who have experience over people who are barely graduating. You see those craigslist ads that ask for 5+ years of experience minimum and then you have no experience so you don’t even apply for those jobs. Or when you go to interviews even in minimum wage jobs they want to hire people who already have experience because they don’t have to teach them anything those people already know what they are supposed to do. But what about everyone else who is trying to make their way into a career, yes you have to start from the bottom up but what are you supposed to do when even at the bottom they try an ask for years of experience already. It doesn’t make any sense to do that in my opinion. 

It is kinda of discouraging as well when you meet people who work at clothing stores or at Starbucks (not that there is anything wrong with those jobs) who have a college education who did well during their college education yet they were not able to find a job in their field and now are drowning with debt. All those late night study sessions and the stress over finals at the end of the semester and it was for nothing. Above all though accumulating college debt is my number one fear. 

That is something else that is crazy. How we are taught that we need and education to have a successful future yet when we go through college we are expected to pay thousands of dollars for that education and in the end we owe so much more money that we never fully pay it off. I have heard so many crazy stories about college debt that if it comes down to it id rather not even go through it. I used to work for a company that helped people consolidate their student loans. yes thats something that you can do on your own and all that but I needed a job so thats what I did. Any who while in that job I had so many people tell me how they wish that they hadn’t taken out so many loans because of the problems that it caused them. I had a lady cry over the phone because her college debt had literally been stressing her out so much that she ended up getting divorced from her husband and having to move back in with her parents. This came from a 48 year old women. Then I had someone else tell me he didn’t even know why he went to school because he wasn’t someone who was even smart enough to pass his classes. Honestly I don’t even know what I would have done if I was in the position of the people who I talked to when I had that job. 

I do believe that an education is important to be honest and I think that it is better to have a degree than not but I am also realistic to the fact that I might end up doing something unrelated to it. If it was up to me I would have chosen to become an archeologist or something that involved some type of history in it. It probably might not be the most realistic type of jobs but it is something that I would have loved. Instead I went for something that is more common and generic because it will give me (hopefully) a 9-5 job with a good salary. Unfortunately the reality of life is that not everyone will end up actually using their college degree. 

What can be more rewarding ? going for what you love with the idea that it might not end well financially or going for something that you already know you will be okay at and you will be able to have a more stable salary ? in the end I was told that you should do what you love. For example if you love music than go for it because if you really love it and you work hard towards accomplishing your goals than eventually you will be able to succeed or atleast thats what all the famous people say that they do right ? is it just luck that really got them where they are? not just the talent? it must have been one of those events in life where they happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right people around them to see what they were really about. 

But then again this is just the rambling of someone who is going through finals at the moment while having a full time job and also working on more essays than I can count on one hand so I’m being over dramatic to be honest about the whole situation.

How are all of you dealing with finals at the moment?

For me its the promise that once I am done I will be free from anything school related