Conversations of a College Graduate

“Congratulations! You are now a college graduate”

This is something written in endless cards, wrapped in way too strong awkward family hugs, and definitely in a speech by some person you are going to zone out too at the graduation ceremony. The follow up question to that fabulous line is usually “so what are your plans” and this is something that the individual has heard before, but from parents and teachers, not the stranger handing them a card with probably 20 dollars in it(thanks buddy, that is going to do wonders on my rent check). All of a sudden you are torn between saying "well time for the bar where I can take 6 shots or I would like a nap” but nevertheless, with your parents eying you, you say something more along the lines of “ a full time job, being financially independent from my parents by the time I'm 24, and hopefully moving far away from here” While saying these things out loud, you are also thinking to yourself”please no follow up questions as I am to emotionally unstable to answer anything beyond 2+2 right now.

"that is an interesting career you have chosen......why that"

For the love of all that is good and holy, sometimes people are just too into you. Just when you thought you were in the clear and out of the dreaded conversation they step back up to bat with that question. I am almost always tempted to rebuttal with "well... why did you decide to eat frosted flakes for breakfast?" I picked what I am doing because I know that moving back in with mom and dad was not an option and moving across the country to be Canada's neighbor didn't sound like a bad idea. That is the first thing that comes to mind, but also the chance to gain experience and work with kids that need the help is the real thing that I will end up saying. Being 3500 miles from the rents are just the icing on the cake. AmeriCorps was never in my line of sight as a freshmen in college, but getting to work with my friends who did do similar programs really showed me that, yes, we may be free labor and severely overworked but the experience and youth development work that I am able to do will trump any similar entry level job on Long Island. So if you really want to know what made me move, pick a career not in a major that I have a degree in and most importantly leave my dog, well buckle up because I could list 100 reasons why. But all you really want out of the question is affirmation to yourself that my life is semi in order and that I am following familial and societal expectations of a job and put together life 60 seconds after being handed a diploma.

"well what you are doing is only for a year....what about after. I mean its not like you are going to stay in Alaska."

News flash, I am not 12, I have been paying my bills since graduation and have held a job since I was 14 years old(there is money to be made and I will make it). I don't really know if it is "Alaska" people have a hard time wrapping their head around or the fact that they think that I am the newest character in Northern Exposure the Reboot. Parents and Professors alike all spoke about me applying to this position in Alaska like it was out of the ordinary for people to exist past Chicago. It even went as far as me having my senior seminar professor tell me, in front of an entire class of about 50 other seniors in college that what I wanted to do was not real and that I would not gain anything out of going to Alaska and doing AmeriCorps. This same professor so kindly informed me to "stay in my major" because "adjusting to a career outside of what I have been studying for 4 years straight is an unnecessary thing and is too hard" So what I decided to do with my life now involves me having to study for the GRE so I can obtain a Masters in Teaching and get a teaching certificate, but it is worth it. So yea, I may be in Alaska for a bit, maybe even more than the year I planned, but If it is getting me towards an ultimate goal....the budget planning, endless side jobs, studying GRE math after a 9 hour day with anxiety ridden teens and chicken for dinner every.single.night. needs to happen for me to get a teaching certificate and a masters.. then I have to do it.