paying my dues.

This is not directly related to work, but it got me thinking: Are 20-Somethings Naively Optimistic About Their Careers?

I have to admit (though it's no secret) that I am an avid reader of the HuffPost.  I am a 20-something college student living in an apartment complex, so having a newspaper delivered to my door is not practical for many reasons (to name a few: I'm broke, I don't trust my neighbors, and I find paper-news to be cumbersome and ecologically irresponsible).  So I read the HuffPost daily, scratch that, hourly.  I found the gem that is the link above headlining the Living section, and I just had to bite.

Now, let me tell you that this article resonated with me to the point of tears.  I am approaching mid-century faster than I'd like to admit, I make a measly hourly wage working for someone who drives me batshit crazy, and I am struggling to decide on a college major.  UNDERGRADUATE major.

In another life, at a different time, I would have been done (or at least close to finishing) with some sort of graduate program by now.  In college (or, more correctly, at the beginning of my college experience) I dabbled with different fields of study before I settled on one I liked just enough to entertain the idea of continuing in some post-graduate work.  My most viable option was to study ethics; it was directly related to my major and broad enough in terms that I could fake a decent-sounding answer when people asked "and what do you plan to do with that?"

And then I had a meltdown.

Long story short, I fucked around for two semesters instead of buckling down and finishing the last few courses I needed for a Bachelor's, took a year off, and after significant social pressure reluctantly returned to school.  Except this time, I chose a new major that made practical and personal sense for my life plan.  For the past two years I have been battling the barrage of criticism for not having completed my original intended Bachelor's and instead abandoning it for a new study that's sapping time and money from my livelihood.

It has been almost exactly six months since I first made the decision to alter the course of my education, and I am proud to say my life has never been better.  Reading this article today reaffirmed that I am indeed making the right decision for my life and the future lifestyle I hope to have.  I was a long-term sufferer of the notion that college is a time to experiment, and that regardless of your degree the letters BA/BS and a passion would take you to the perfect career without having to suffer or endure any strife in your profession.

Dead wrong.

My parents had always told me "just get a degree, it doesn't matter what it is, and then find a job that will give you weekends off, vacation time, benefits and a retirement package," as if that's the ultimate standard.  My parents achieved that for themselves and quickly realized there was no fervor in their lives, so they uprooted our family and started over.  For years I watched them struggle to find their passion, and then struggle to find a way to make their passions pay.  And not once during that time did it occur to me the typical college journey is perhaps detrimental to a person's professional development; even worse, I don't think it occurred to my parents either when they were preaching it to a very impressionable me.

Currently I am $8k in debt, happy when my paychecks are more than $500 biweekly, loving what I study and actively working on applying that knowledge to a profession.  All of this, while doing laundry, sweeping floors, and answering phones, AND being painfully aware of the fact that my pending BBA is NOT magically going to elevate my status above having to be a window washer.

It just so happens that my passion is dirty, it requires hard work, and the pay is probably not immediately satisfying, but the truth is I never expected my life to be a pic-nic before mid 40s.  So this I dedicate to my fellow members of Generation Y: our social status as 20-somethings is SUPPOSED to be tough and gritty, and the reality of our educations is that we know more people our age with degrees than without, and having a degree is not an automatic entitlement to a breezy way of life.

Perhaps this world would be a better place if everyone spent a week cleaning shit stained toilets.  #Payyourdues.

On a side professional note, I think the word "quote" should be banned in writing.  There is NO REASON to have to write/type "quote/unquote" because (SURPRISE!) that's what quotation marks are for.