The Waiting Game

Being in your twenties can often seem like an endless waiting game. Waiting for the right job, for the right relationship, for that Uber ride when you’re leaving the bar a few too many drinks later. We’re all just waiting for our “real” lives to start, but the trouble is, this is part of real life. It’s sort of a catch twenty-two though, or at least it feels that way. We want enjoy what we have now, but we also want to have it all figured out. It’s hard though because we can’t seem to move forward until we get that job or that apartment or whatever it is that we’re waiting for, making the now that much less enticing to us.

For me, being out of school, there’s not much to focus on between temp jobs. I have far too much time on my hands and I’m filled with thoughts of the future, what I want it to look like, what it could look like. People always say to live in the present, and I completely agree that this is the best way to live, but sometimes the present isn’t what we want for ourselves and we can’t help but day dream about a better future. The only thing I know for sure is that all I can do is work towards that future. Although it’s a giant waiting game right now, one day it won’t be and when that day comes I know it will be a direct result of my current efforts.

One of the only comforts I have is knowing that most college graduates have this problem after graduation, because it is just such a competitive job market right now, especially for creative types. I’ve talked to so many people about this and they all say it just takes time and eventually it will happen. There’s no changing the facts of the waiting game, all you can do is enjoy the good things you do have while waiting for what you really want. It’s not the most fun part about being in your twenties, but not all parts of life can be fun, and that’s okay.

Eventually is one of my least favorite words currently, but unfortunately it is the only thing that gives me hope for the future. Eventually there will be the right job, the right person, the right moment. We just have to believe that it will get better, things always happen in waves, and right now the tide is low. Nothing is ever all bad though, there is good in every day, we just have to find it and hold onto it in the mean time while we continuously play the waiting game.

Job Application Jitters

What’s the biggest goal for a recent college graduate? To get a job! This is the most important and most daunting task in front of those of us trying to enter into the adult world. Over the past several weeks, I have been applying to jobs left and right, just praying someone will give me at least an interview. As an English major with less than 2+ years of experience in my desired field, it’s hard to get a company to notice you, among the myriad of other people applying for the same position. Sometimes it seems unfair that your experience doesn’t add up to a company’s expectations simply because education has been your main source of experience.
   
Another problem I’ve come across is that many of the jobs and internships I am qualified for are unpaid, something that is ill suited for someone trying to jumpstart a life. Unfortunately, making money is the only way to keep going in this crazy world. Some would say in the digital age, there are ample jobs for creative types, or at least more than there used to be. However, it’s difficult to sift through everything out there for just one that will give you a chance over hundreds of other applicants. It’s so hard to know how you can make yourself stand out from the rest in a resume, references, and experience. I suppose we all just have to put our best foot forward and hope someone out there will take notice.
   
This entire process can be extremely nerve-racking and at many times unrewarding. However there is an important lesson for us in this time of struggle. Even if you apply to a hundred jobs, it doesn’t matter that you don’t get ninety-nine of them, you only need one company to say yes to you. Although I’m not there yet, I know that I have to keep working towards my goals and never stop until I get there because there is no other way to achieve. Even when you’re exhausted and want to give up, don’t because hard work will always pay off in the end.

A Growing Journey

One thing that can happen when transitioning into full on adulthood is really learning who you are as a person. When you were a teenager, maybe you were beginning to see who you were. In college, you got to see yourself as an independent person while you had no curfew, partied whenever you wanted, skipped a few classes, became a feminist and a democrat, and maybe experimented with all sorts of things from drugs, to sex, to deciding if you wanted to go Greek.  And when all the chaos of being on your own starts to settle in, that is when who you were always meant to be starts to develop. As time goes by, you grow out of those experiments and learn to narrow down what exactly it is you want from life and what you are going to do in order to make it happen.

    I could keep going with the list of what happens mentally as we progress in our lives, but I can’t go much further into the future because this is about where I’m at. I’ve learned so much about myself through the process of growing up in all stages and I know I have much more to do. The prospect of growing even deeper into who I am supposed to be absolutely thrills me. However, there are always fears that I won’t live up to who I want my future self to be. Then again, this is a price we pay for growing up. There is no fast forward or rewind, as we all wish there were. But wouldn’t it be a fantastic discovery if we learned how to replay our greatest hits in life whenever we wanted? Since this hasn’t been discovered yet, we as mere mortals must always live in the present, never able to return to the past and never really certain of what the future might hold for us.

    The truth is, I’m not where I want to be in life yet, but wanting everything to be here now is just a side-effect of being young. I want to be able to skip ahead to all the good stuff, but I know I need to remember to enjoy all the little things and the good things I have now. For instance, I’d say getting my first car this week was a step in the right direction. I am so in love with it and it is just one step closer to the rest of my life. Although there are bigger goals in my mind’s eye, those are for another day and today has its own agenda. There is still so much of myself I have yet to discover, and as I continue the process of being an adult, I have to remember that the journey makes the destination, not the other way around.