At every stage in formal education, we are told we are being prepared for the next step. Elementary school prepares you for middle school, middle school for high school, high school for college, and college for the "big time" – the real world.
Now, of course we have heard all of the anecdotes, read all of the celebrity memoirs saying that they weren't anywhere near their goals at my age. And I have to hope that those anecdotes will someday be ones that we can tell our own children or share in our own memoirs. However, we live in a world where it is increasingly difficult to be a twenty-something post-grad millennial.
That college degree was supposed to be our golden ticket, was it not? It was supposed to open up the doors to our futures. We apply to the jobs labeled "entry level" and we think, "Great! That's me! I'm entry level!" Upon further investigation, not so true. These jobs almost always require three years of experience minimum. Oh. So not entry level? Because that's definitely not us.
As we grew up, we were told the only way we would ever get a "real" job is to get a college degree. Without one, we would never go anywhere in our lives. Well, here we are with our degrees and many of us are working the same jobs we were throughout high school and college. Wasn't all of this education supposed to ensure that this did not happen?
Don't get us wrong, college was great. We made amazing friends. We learned to live on our own. We learned how to hold our liquor (most of the time) and we learned that our laundry does not do itself.
College is an irreplaceable, priceless experience. But that isn't the reason we are so pressured to get that degree.
At the end of all of the papers, late night study sessions, and trash cans filled with k-cup pods, we were handed a very expensive piece of paper and a handshake. It turns out, there weren't people waiting outside for us with job offers and still eat mac and cheese on a regular basis. The second we walked out those doors, we returned to being poor college students without the excuse of actually being in college.
Everything we are taught is meant to prepare us for the next big jump in our lives. Alongside our classmates, we get ready for what will ultimately become our "real lives". So we go that high school diploma and we packed our bags and went off to college.We walked across that stage and we moved our tassels. The question is, now what?
