In two weeks the class of 2013 will spend their last days on this campus as enrolled students.
When I ask my senior friends how it feels to almost be finished with college I get several answers. Some are stressed because they don’t have jobs yet, or don’t know where they’ll be going to school next. Others are ecstatic because they have already found great entry-level positions at financial firms, nonprofits or consulting agencies. No one that I have talked to is happy to be clueless. It seems like everyone wants to know where they’re going.
I understand why they’re anxious. I feel anxious when I don’t have my week planned out, much less the next few years. But I want to offer another solution for post-graduation plans that doesn’t involve kickstarting your career or continuing education.
Go do something fun. Something really weird that you never thought you’d do after college.
One of my professors once told me she thought I would benefit from taking a year off to stop all the planning and experience life. “Go work as a first mate on a sailboat in Key West or something,” she said. And I’ve wanted to try it ever since.
There is so much pressure on us to find the job of our dreams when we’re 23, or get the doctorate by 30. People just don’t explore their options anymore, and I think we’re missing out on a great part of life.
I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Peace Corps volunteers who have already completed their service about their experiences and why they chose to give up two years of their life to live in poverty and foreign environments.
All of them said they were so excited for the experience and opportunity, and encouraged me to consider applying. The general sentiment was that too many people walk this straight line that prohibits us from exploring our world, and that has to change.
Sure, maybe joining the Peace Corps or taking a year off to work won’t land you the CEO position by the time you’re 30, but it will make you a wiser person for when you do get that executive job.
Perhaps you won’t be making six figures right out of college if you take a risk and see what life has to offer for a little while, but you may find happiness in countless other ways while you’re out in the world exploring.
You may find that all this time you’ve been missing out on so much because you’ve had this idea in your head that it’s not beneficial to stray from the path. But let’s be honest, when is the last time you heard of anyone changing the world doing something big by staying on the paved road? Sometimes it takes getting out in the uncharted territory and living it up.
If you’ve found your dream job already, I think that’s great, and I wouldn’t want you to give it up if you think you’re really going to be happy. But if you’re still struggling to find purpose and guidance, don’t be afraid to break from the norm, and do something a little crazy.
Graves is a junior majoring in communication studies and religious studies.
