Being a Twenty-Something is Hard
As part of my new year’s resolution, I’ve decided to start a personal blog to work on my writing skills. This first post: seeing if I can put into words where I’m at in life.
I graduated from college a year and a half ago, and I have some thoughts about the whole experience. There are two things that everyone promises college will provide:
Self-discovery (“finding” yourself)
A well-paying job
Since graduating, I’ve realized that college graduates often don’t have both of these things, and many have neither (shocking!). Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful for my education. However, when I was an 18-year-old leaving my hometown to start life as an independent adult, I kind of thought that all the things I wanted in life would fall into my lap as soon as I moved my tassel to the left on graduation day. As any college graduate knows, it’s not that simple.
No longer being enrolled in any sort of schooling has provided me with an overwhelming amount of freedom that I’m not always sure what to do with. Nothing is tying me anywhere or to anything. The rules have changed. After college, you can live in any city, pursue a job in any industry, and do whatever you feel like doing. Suddenly, you can pick up and move to New York City. Nothing is stopping you. Or maybe Chicago. Or Honolulu? Or, you can really reinvent yourself. Move to New Zealand and work on a farm. Surely, that’d lead you to the parts of yourself that you still haven’t “found.” On one hand, having an endless amount of options is wonderful. On the other, it’s harder to choose an entree from a large menu than from a menu that provides three options, and only one fits your dietary restrictions.
No matter where you land on the map, you’re going to need to find a way to pay rent. Job hunting is brutal. Companies will shamelessly require 5+ years of experience and a Master’s Degree for an entry level position with a $30,000 salary. It’s criminal. Even if you do fit their requirements, there’s no guarantee that your job application will ever actually be read by a human. It feels like a slap in the face when a company ghosts you after you’ve curated your resume for the position, basically gotten on your knees and begged them to hire you in a cover letter, and sent four followup emails. At that point, the only course of action is to tell yourself that’s fine, I didn’t really want that job anyways.
Being in your twenties is hard and confusing as you’re dealing with raising rent prices, a bad job market, and a worse dating scene. Despite the negatives, it sure has been fun so far. I’ve been able to do some traveling with my best friends, adopt hobbies I never knew I enjoyed, and learn a lot about my values. Lately, life feels like I’m putting together a 1,000 piece puzzle of an unknown image. But it’s exciting, and I can’t wait to see what it’ll look like as I get more pieces in place. Maybe I’ll never have everything completely figured out, but I’m determined to have fun trying! I’ll end with the wisest words I’ve ever been told: It’ll all work out.
