For the sake of clarification...
My last post was, perhaps, written in haste and in post-adolescent angst (post-haste? No, wait... ha). I think it misrepresented my current life-stage quandary. It wasn't supposed to be so much a commentary on my restless dissatisfaction as it was supposed to be about my annoyance at my lack of professional stability or even clear direction. I wasn't trying to say that I am perpetually dissatisfied at my lack of "vocation," though I'll admit that our generation does feel this somewhat, especially if you come from a Christian background. It isn't like I have a good job and I am sorry that it doesn't satisfy me or that I am holding out for a job that will.
No, my post was supposed to emphasize two things:
A) How naive it was for me to think that life would progress in a linear way and that age would bring clarity. And how I can't help but feel a bit ripped off by life not working the way that it was sold to me at 15.
B) How I am a stage that could use some clarity and guidance in terms of my career. In this, I am:
- Trying to find out what my limited options are (limited because my kind of skill-set and training is not very marketable)
- Then trying to weigh which of those options would be best for me. Now, I don't expect any of these options to be a all-fulfilling or joy inducing choice, but I have very different paths open to me, and I am sure that certain ones would be more compatible with my personality, but it is hard to say which ones would be better. In this, I have to also consider what kind of work would enable me to make the world a better place.
If my previous post sounded angsty, it was simply because this is a stressful decision, one which will inevitably affect my family and future. Again, I acknowledge that this is a common problem for my generation at my age. I can only think of, literally, about two or three people who have managed to find a career that they could settle into comfortably enough to raise a family, two are in computers one is in management. I have a handful of other friends who have careers, but most of them are having a hard time making them successful enough to start a family. So, I am not pretending that my situation is unique. And I'm not moaning about not being fulfilled. I was simply expressing my concern and frustration at not having a career or even any prospects of one despite being in my late 20s, having worked hard, and gone to graduate school. Does that make more sense?
Comments
Eva
Yes, it totally makes sense.
And I'm sorry that I misunderstood you. And I am sorry if you felt attacked. That was not my intention.
Also, I'm sorry that your situation is so sucky. You will probably only ever find a job that is partially compatible with your personality or skill set, which leaves you open to wonder if another job may have been a better choice.
Finally, there really is a problem with the work situation in the US. The educational system is out-dated and sell students on the belief that if they receive a college degree they will be marketable. However, that is a returning-from-war-era belief. The job market has moved on. So many people receive college degrees that a degree will no longer set a person apart. And even graduate degrees are not enough any longer (at least not in many fields). This means that the job market has set the standards impossibly high. What they now require are unpaid (or poorly paid) internships (or entry-level positions). This means that a person must have parents willing to support him into his mid-to-late twenties or a spouse who already has an established career that brings in the big bucks. It is unfair and unrealistic. And I'm sorry you have to deal with this.
The higher college costs get, and the longer this goes on, a greater and greater section of the US population will be stuck with debt and unable to invest in other areas.
This is part of what I mean when I say that I feel ripped off and lied to.
The reality is that an opportunity is all you need. The majority of people are lazy, dumb, self-entitled and unreliable. I can't believe how many people I know that make very good money yet they fulfill at least one of these categories and many times multiple ones. Once you get that break through opportunity, everything else will follow.