While many of you have heard me rant (perhaps endlessly) about the challenges of life after university (the Purgatory between university and "real life"), I have yet to write it down. Here it is.
We, the Millennials, are part of a special generation. Only some of our parents have degrees, while a lot more of us do. From a young age up through high school, we were warned that we must get a degree! Go to university! We can do anything we want! We were warned by those who wish they had done it in their day, and those that did and had it pay off. Warned by a generation where having a degree really did set you apart.
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| Look at this perfect ethnic/gender balanced workforce! They are waiting for you! And your magical degree! They are struggling with so many under-educated employees! |
So, we picked a degree, likely on the following advice:
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| Do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life! If you love your job it will be like all your days are days off! You will loath weekends because you aren’t at work! Where you love everything! |
We borrowed loans, worked two jobs, or drained our education funds (if we were lucky enough to have them) and enrolled for that coveted degree. We all knew it would pay off.
It's simple, really. All we had to do was get a degree and everything else would fall into place.
It's simple, really. All we had to do was get a degree and everything else would fall into place.
Degree = Happy Job = Happy Life
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| Look how happy these employees are! They must have a degree and a job they really love. They must hate their weekends. |
Four (or five, six, sometimes eight...) years later, we emerged. Fresh-faced, bright-eyed, and ready for all those jobs! Spirits waiting to be crushed. That degree in the field you love? No jobs. You’re degree will set you apart? Not now that everyone has one! $20 000 in student loans? Won’t pay themselves off!
Some of us got a job unrelated to our field:
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| " Two extra-hot grande half-caf triple mocha latte macchiatos" |
Some of us got a job related to our field, but at a workplace we hated:
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| "I'm sorry I was 30 minutes late to the job in which I already work ungodly amounts of overtime" |
Or a less desirable living location:
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| Land Rover not included |
Some of us even managed to get a dream job and realized the degree was a huge mistake!
Now it’s nearly five years later and a great many people I know are still trying to get their shit together. Again. And again. For myself, I’ve been looping through the same post-grad life cycle over and over again. So much so, that I turned it into a handy flow chart:
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| Class of 2012 beware: This could be you. (Note: At any time, feel free to exit the cycle, go back to school for another degree/masters/PhD, and jump right back in - right where you left off. Also feel free to move home and out again any number of times) Lately, I've thought that what we should have is a university degree exchange. Find someone with an equally useless degree and trade! See if you can land a job with your new credentials! Swap that philosophy degree for one in creative writing! Change things up with a switch from physics to biology! Swap an English degree for one in geography! Or kinesiology for performing arts! All you need to do is find another twenty-something who is floundering in life with their chosen degree. Trust me, there is no shortage of us! So, what's a twenty-something in the midst of a quarter-life crisis to do? You could join a support group:  Make better use of your days off:  Or ponder the greater philosophical questions in life:  |
So, fellow twenty-somethings. Make yourself useful. Find a high school student and warn them!
In the mean time, I'll see you at the support group. We're all in this together.
In the mean time, I'll see you at the support group. We're all in this together.
