In about a week, it will have been an entire year since I graduated from Vanguard University. I could make a long list of words to describe the happenings of said year, but that's not the point of this post. Suffice it to say that what I'm about to discuss is not completely representative of the past year; it is merely a slice of purposely ambiguous size out of my post-graduation experience.
While still an undergrad, there is a lot of jest and fun poked about post-graduation, the "real world" (at Vanguard referred to as being outside the "Vanguard Bubble," a term which, other than school name, is probably not unique to the small Christian liberal arts university I attended), going from being a student to being unemployed, etc etc. Now, this may seem like a really elementary concept to anyone who has actually been past that stage in life, but all that has a very real aspect to it.
That isn't to say that the college experience should be downplayed, or thought of as being fake, or unimportant. Contrarily, I think the college experience is extremely valuable and does set one up in more ways than I would care to admit for the life that is lived afterwards. I think that most things that happen while in college have far-reaching effects on people's personalities and though processes later in life, and that they very much stand on their own as "real life".
Seeing as how this is not a paper for school, and not an exhaustive discussion of all things post grad, I will refine the discussion to one more narrow idea. While in school, you always hear about the potential that young people have. We are the ones who will get things done, who have our whole lives ahead of us. We have ideas, drive, resources, education, and some would argue that the post-modern culture of 21st century America gives the public a certain openness to new ideas. We can do anything. The world is literally at our fingertips (again, "literally" being used literally here, with reference to connectivity, the internet, etc. etc.).
These are all great things. They are inspiring. They may sound cheesy, but if one looks around, one can see these things being lived out. Almost every major technology company today seems to support these ideas. Countless humanitarian projects show what a few people can accomplish. While in school, people tend to see this kind of thinking as idealistic, unrealistic, and even problematic, due to "real life" after graduation.
But now, after being out of school for an entire year, I have to admit something about that kind of thinking.
I think it is completely true.
It is hard, when you're in school worrying about grades, classes, practice time, projects, papers, events, not to mention friends and drama, to actually understand this. In my own experience, it was really nice to think about doing things, to consider what could be done, and even to watch other people do things, and believe that what people said about young people today is true; but I could get around to doing that type of thing after I graduated, when I had more time.
After graduation though, "real life" really does begin to kick one's metaphorical (and sometimes physical) butt. I had a great summer right after graduation, touring and wandering Europe, roadtripping across America three times, being a counselor at the Masterworks Festival, and in general living life to the fullest. When I finally settled down to accomplish my goals for the year (yes, I set goals for myself), I was quickly reminded that I had other things to worry about. For me, those things were mostly related to paying student loans and making money to survive. Now, I have a great living situation, and by no stretch of the imagination was I ever in danger of starving or being evicted. But the simple fact of the matter is that as soon as we graduate, all the great things that we were planning to do can get lost in the maze of survival, whatever that entails. I want to define what I mean by the term "survival". When I refer to survival, I mean doing things that you really don't have a choice about. Paying loans. Paying bills. Going to work. Fixing broken cars/bikes/body parts. Now, I do realize that these things are probably inevitable, and that pretty much everyone has to deal with them. But as someone coming fresh from the idealistic world of college, it's as if whoever said all those things about our potential decided not to mention that they weren't actually real, and they were just a motivation for getting through college.
That would actually be fine, except that everyone knows that they ARE true. Being out of school, outside of a world that's more or less structured for us, only confirms that the world IS right at our fingertips. We actually can pick up and go wherever we want, whenever we want, however we want. It's all possible. But possibility doesn't necessarily mean reality. It's all so apparently close - you can almost taste it - but you can't actually get it, because in order to do so you'll have to fail at real life. Loans will go unpaid, you'll get evicted, and so on.
Still, one thinks to oneself, if this beginning hump can just be gotten over, of stable income starts coming in, once those loans are paid off, then...then those other things can be gotten to.
My fear when thinking that is as simple as this: "What if I get too old? What if when I finally do have the ability to do those things, I lack the qualities I have now that will be able to make them a reality? What if I find myself content to just stay with whatever it is that gets me enough money, even if I know it's not any of the things I want?"
I don't know how all of that can work out. In retrospect, I personally could have probably done things differently, and who knows if that would have changed my outlook? I do know that almost every single one of my friends who has been out of school for the past year thinks pretty much the same thing. We're all, it seems, struggling against the ruts of existence that society seems to want us to stay in.
A couple afterthoughts, summations, and reiterations:
I didn't integrate faith or any sort of spiritual aspect into this post. I think that has a lot to do with this. A lot. It can redefine much of the way one sees the world, and purpose.
There will be another post at some point about purpose (no, I actually was not really thinking about a certain bestselling book when i used that word).
Maybe a better word for purpose is "calling". I guess we'll see.
Again, I'm not saying this is everyone's experience. Obviously.
I'm not saying we shouldn't have responsibility as young adults. Although that would be nice.
I'm not saying college experiences don't matter.
I think young adults and teenagers have the ability to do some crazy important stuff.
