Currently I’m living in the recent grad vortex. That’s where you used to do very well in school, used to have a direction, focus, etc., and then the minute you graduate you spiral out of control in fits of ridiculous self-indulgence and lose all sense of self and accomplishment, pining for the days when your life was laid out in a series of due dates.
It used to be so clear, what you were going to do with your life. Then the minute you leave school behind there are just so many…options…a whole world at your feet (from the optimistic point of view), or, in other words, you-have-no-fucking-idea-what-you’re-doing, and the indecision is crippling.
The options to the recent grad in the current economic reality seem to be fourfold: unemployment, continued student unemployment, service industry employment, and elusive but possibly abusive entry-level work. Having just left the fourth option myself after a wonderful month of outrageous abuse at a lawyer’s office, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps there is no right answer, and that one should simply throw things at the wall and see what sticks. I’m applying to grad school. I may go to China. I’m applying to more entry-level positions. I’m applying to the pet store around the corner. I will keep you posted, loyal readers, as the situation unfolds.