One thing the bugs me the most about graduating from college is that awkward period of time when you have absolutely no idea what you are doing with your life. If you asked me last September what I was doing after graduating from Cal Poly, I would have told you I was planning on attending graduate school in the fall. Fast forward to nine months later, I'm sitting in a black robe that used to be a plastic bottle with a flat piece of cardboard bobby pinned to my head, listening to each speaker drone on and on about how "this is our time" and "the world is ours."As inspirational as that is, what does that really mean, practically speaking? Sure we spent the last four or five years working for that piece of paper that says we know something about a certain subject, but what does that get us?
At the moment, I'm working as a receptionist at a pharmaceutical company and spend my days refilling paper, restocking food and listening to old men on the phone complaining how they "ain't getting no results" from using our products and proceed to describe to me how they are using the product to make sure they're doing it right (we make erectile disfunction drugs). On the plus side, I'm super good at answering phones now and dealing with super awkward situations, on the downside the scientist in me is getting really sad because I haven't been in a lab in over a week.
There's a line from Kappa Kappa Psi's Fraternity Hymn that has always made me feel better. It says: "I do not know how long 'twill be or what the future holds for me, but this I know, if I must die, I am a brother of KKPsi." While I was still in school, I always felt some sort of comfort that even though I don't know what life has in store there was one thing I knew for sure, I was a brother. Now that I'm an alumnus of not only the university, but the fraternity as well, I can't help feeling that I've lost a huge chunk of my identity.
I always dread the inevitable question "So, what are you up to after graduation?" I usually reply with something NASA related, but the truth of the matter is that I really don't know. Now that grad school isn't an option for this year, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. No one tells you how hard your 20's are. Up until now, there's always been a socially constructed plan that everyone pretty much sticks to, elementary school then high school then college, but after college, there is no obvious next step. The beauty of it is that I could do anything I wanted to now. I don't even have to do biology anymore, but at the same time, having the world as your oyster makes this awkward period so much harder because having so many options makes the decision even more difficult. In the past few months, I've contemplated pursuing careers as a flight attendant, chef, bartender, trophy wife and Globe Trekker host. I've also applied to every possible science related job in the San Luis Obispo area because, to be honest, my heart is still in SLO.
