Life After Graduation

Here I am. Here you are – thinking of what to do with your life. Thinking of what happens next, what challenges, what paths, what obstacles you are going to conquer next. Certainly, most of us do not know, or maybe have the slightest idea, maybe even are on the brink of something.

             These questions, thoughts, ideas and dreams hinder over my head, along with why Britney Spears still is not wearing panties.

            Here I am, a senior, ready to graduate in May. Scary huh? Graduation. The word gives me chills. Is it Grad school after, or the working world? This moment in my life, as well as many seniors, we have to start asking ourselves these questions. What do we want to do with our lives? Ultimately, I would love to see Britney Spears in person and ask her, “Miss Spears, why do you flood our tabloids with your nakedness?” But I cannot do that because one, she may run over my foot with her Mercedes, and two, she might scar me for life.

            You hear it everywhere from people. “What are you going to do after college?” And if your reply is, “Oh, I don’t know? Haven’t gotten there yet,” then people give you this shroud look, as if you’re some kind of unmotivated failure.

            Our culture has become obsessed with jobs, money, economy, global warming, saving this and that, helping him and her, that if we do not come up with some certain answer to either achieve one of these, then people ultimately think we are going to be a bum on the side of the street begging for change. I feel as though whenever people ask me that question, they have high expectations for me to say something nonchalantly like, “Oh, well you know, I plan on becoming a multi-millionaire entrepreneur. Dur.”

            Recently I picked up the most brilliant book while traveling in London called, Whatever You Think Think the Opposite by Paul Arden. Not only was this book a motivating, go getter, but a book that explains the benefits of making bad decisions. Yes, bad decisions. At that moment of picking the book up, I saw the white clouds part above me, and heaven shine down on my dirty soul.

Arden states, “It’s the wrong way to think, but the right way to win.” Nonetheless, the book is a great toilet book and does not have any heavy text, although it does take the demons away when someone looks at you like you are going nowhere with your life. Arden also states, “It shows how risk is your security in life, and why unreason is better than reason. It’s about having the confidence to roll with the dice.”

After reading the book carefully, while taking notes, underlining and re-reading, I honestly think I have such a better outlook on life (I am also contemplating shipping the book to Miss Spears, that is, if she still remembers how to read).

It is a scary world out there, and I have heard so many of my friends talking about their decisions, plans and setting goals. But for some of us, we just do not know what to expect after college. You cannot take other people’s views of the ‘after-college’ life because we each experience different things and have different perspectives. It is this time in the semester where not only I, but other seniors have to start sending out resumes and grad school applications. Just like Arden states, “The world is what you think of it. So think of it differently and your life will change.” I wish everyone good luck and I am sure you will succeed in whatever you choose in life. Do what you want to do, and follow your heart. Who cares what other people think.

So the next time someone asks me what I am going to do after college, I am simply going to reply, “Oh, you know, I plan on building my cardboard box next week.”