The Future Is Scary

            A few weeks ago, I wrote a post called Don’t Settle.  The gist was that we shouldn’t worry too much about what we’re doing after college because we’re young and still have endless opportunities.  Since then, I’ve had a slight change of heart.

            It’s not that having a desk job really scares me anymore; after all, not everyone can love every minute of their working life.  Even the inevitable process of endless interviews and networking is a necessary evil that I’ve come to terms with at this point.  Perhaps most importantly, I’d like to reward my parents’ overwhelming generosity and devotion to my education with a paying job that affords me independence.

            At this point, my biggest fear is that once I enter the working world, I’ll be stuck.  All of my peers seem to believe that out of college, they’ll work for a few years before they find something they like better.  This first position is just one more step on the path towards a future of happiness and fulfillment.  Yet, the question I keep asking is will that future ever arrive?

            So, you make some money.  You get promoted.  You fall in love.  You start a family.  You raise your kids.  Finally, you sit back, and watch, and hope your offspring don’t make the same mistakes you did when you were young and didn’t know any better.  That’s the mantra we’ve heard over and over again—the so-called, American Dream.

            But, what if that’s not how it goes?  Is there anything else to the formula?  Is there any guarantee that going through the motions exactly like your parents, and their parents before them, will lead to any sort of sustainable happiness?
            The unemployment rate for recent college graduates is currently 8.5%.  An additional 16.8% of that group is underemployed.  Meanwhile, the statistics show that 50% of marriages end in divorce.  Also, college tuition rates continue to rise while the job market becomes more competitive.  So, by my calculations, less than 75% of my generation has a sufficient income for independence, with a bachelor’s degree.  Even if this entire group got married, we have to assume that half will get divorced, which leaves 37% employed with an unbroken family.  I don’t even want to contemplate the math for how many of those people will be able to afford college tuition in 20 years.

            Nevertheless, every day someone asks me what I want to do with my life.  At this point, my honest answer is that I have no idea.  What I do know, however, is that if this country doesn’t start moving in a different direction soon, the future isn’t particularly bright for any of us, let alone the next generation.  The truth is, we have bigger problems ahead than just making our first paycheck, and I’m afraid anyone who thinks differently is living in the dark.

Don't Settle

            When I was in elementary school, if someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I answered without hesitation: second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles.  It was so naïve, but my face lit up every time I said it.  To put it simply, I loved baseball, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else for a living.  Then a couple years went by, and a couple more, and at some point it became evident that I was never going to be a professional baseball player.

            Some say, with age comes wisdom.  In my experience, however, with age comes cynicism.  Not only do I no longer believe that I’ll play baseball professionally one day, but worse, I fear I’ll never find a job that brings me true enjoyment.  By some miracle that I cannot comprehend, many of my peers seem to know exactly what they’d like to do with their lives.  Meanwhile, I can’t decide whether I’d rather be a plumber or an investment banker (or more likely, neither).

            So, when did the future shift so dramatically from being a dream to a nightmare?  For most of my life, the future meant opportunity and independence, infinite possibility.  After all those years, though, this “future” is inevitably coming my way in May, and any sense of opportunity I once had has been replaced with fear and angst.  I can hardly explain what a marketing job entails; yet, I’m expected to find one that pays well enough that I no longer have to rely on my parents for support.

            Suppose I do find a job out of college, and I don’t hate it, and I’m not broke.  Perhaps, I’m doing something meaningful for this world.  I even have my own place and friends to share it with.  I get season tickets for the Orioles and play golf on the weekends.  My life is shaping up exactly how it’s supposed to, exactly how everyone expects it to.  This reality is not outside the realm of possibility.

            Yet, for some reason, that prospect doesn’t quite do it for me.  For kids, the promise of growing up one day is often enough motivation to push forward.  The question I keep asking these days is what happens when you’re already there?  If I figure it all out before I graduate, then what will I have left to live for?

So, in the end, I’d rather not worry too much about what I’ll be doing next year.  I have no plans of peaking at age 22.  While everyone else treats graduation like the be all and end all of our young lives, I’ll keep looking in the same direction I always have, forward.  That first job is undoubtedly important, but so are the second, and the third.  I’m not concerned about making it to the next step; I always have, one way or another.  After all, we’re too young to settle down, and more importantly, we’re too old not to strive for something more.