She rolled over as the sun peeked through the blinds. Glancing at her cell phone she noted the missed calls and pulled the worn pillow over her head. What did she care that it was going on noon, it was just another day like the last. She was tired of being told to get out of bed and get a job. What job? No one seemed to understand…she was a college graduate, Cum Laude even, and yet she wasn’t knowledgable enough to land a job. She hated the word “JOB” and when it was used around her she felt her anxiety grow until she now took medicine to control the anxiety.
He stood staring in the mirror, his tie, all shiny and new, stared back at him, mocking him and his long ago dreams of making it big in the business world. His face was clean shaven, his cologne light, his brow furrowed. How did this happen? He dreaded the next eight to ten hours behind a desk answering phones for what? His paycheck barely covered his rent and utilities, let alone any extras like food! But he was tired…tired of the job, tired of people telling him he was lucky to get a job, tired of living a life that was anything but his dream. This wasn’t suppose to be like this.
The line grew long and she struggled to wrestle the watermelon into a cart for the customer. Behind her she could see Mrs. So and So and she wished her supervisor would suddenly grant her a break. How could she face her here…at the local grocery store? Trying to smile she met her previous teacher with a heavy heart. The conversation was light, but she knew what Mrs. So and So was thinking…”Poor dear! So bright and now working at a grocery store. She was going to change the world.” And then she asks, “Didn’t you travel to Uganda for a year and help build schools?” Yep…that was her, the girl that was going to light the world on fire, now she was selling firewood to people in a grocery store. It wasn’t suppose to happen this way…was it? Didn’t the government promise her that they would help her find a job when she returned? Didn’t they tell her that she was one of their brightest young minds, the future of the world?
All about us these stories grow in number. College graduates are disgruntled, perhaps more now then ever in the history of our country.Blame it on the economy, the government…whatever…does it really matter? NO IT DOES NOT! You see, life is different for most of these young people, different than when most of us graduated from college. I know that my generation was the one that
still had only a few children in the household attending college. Now every child in the household is expected to attend…a college degree is like a high school degree. Successfully attaining a degree only offers you a job…not the one of your dreams…just a job. (My generation you had to have a high school diploma.) For some, the job may be working at a grocery store, or answering phones. Both which really do not require a college education…yet, who are employers hiring? You got it. The college graduate. Does this mean that graduates should get their masters? NO…again…NO! A masters degree doesn’t guarantee a job in a particular field anymore than the BA did.
So what are the youth of America to do? Here is the answer according to my very wise husband…
They must take control of what they “can” control. Instead of waiting for something good to happen…our youth need to start helping themselves. The truth be told, our youth have had everything promised to them and those promises went up in smoke when they graduated. Our graduates need to begin a strategic plan to work their way to happiness. They must realize that “they” must start at the bottom of the totem pole and climb slowly and with purpose until they are the head of that very totem. These young people need to ask themselves what they could do to better themselves, to get more experience, to make themselves more marketable. IF that means he/she must take a few classes here or there, take them. IF it means that he/she must volunteer on weekends to get experience somewhere…then do it gladly. IF it means making connections at the local book club…then join the club. These young Americans were promised a bright future…but let’s be real…no one promised it to them on a silver platter. They need to learn how to polish the platter before they can eat off of it. It is sad to see our youth in such a predicament…but the best way out of it is with enthusiasm to keep learning and better oneself. It’s the only way their bright future will come to fruition.
