Читать книгу 20 Something Manifesto - Christine Hassler - Страница 14

I will be graduating from college this fall, and I am doing everything that was on my checklist to prepare me for a career. I have worked relentlessly to maintain my high GPA, take a full load of courses every semester, learn the necessary professional skills at my twenty-hour-a-week public relations internship, and work at a restaurant on the weekends. The word “exhaustion” might come to mind, but I continue to tell myself that it will all pay off in the years to come — this is what I am “supposed” to do. But what if it doesn’t? What if after graduation, I get the job that I think I want, yet face the disappointment of feeling unhappy with my career choice when I thought I had it all figured out in college? I have these great expectations to be a successful public relations executive in a big city, with the corner office and spectacular view, have great friends, and maybe even a boyfriend. But how do I know what I really want?

I cannot help but feel like by putting all of my focus on my professional goals, I will one day regret not experiencing other aspects of life. I could reflect on my college experience as a time of fleeting independence, or I could choose to see the reality of my situation and look back on four years without a solid relationship, very few nights out with my girlfriends, and all-nighters spent studying for a morning exam.

My stress is perpetuated by my checklist of long-term goals and aspirations, and the pressure I exert upon myself to achieve them all. In what seems like a pretty early start for a twenty-something crisis, I can only hope to persevere by holding on to my ambition and being confident that my life will be all that I hope it will be.