As you will likely be aware, the graduates of 2015 will soon be back among us. Living back in the real world, away from the safety net of academia, wondering lost in the wilderness in search of the dream life we all believe exists...
This Thursday my little brother will be among them, and I'm really sad for him. Of course I'm proud, of course I'm impressed with what he has achieved, but mostly I'm sorry that he has to enter the real world.
I wrote a card for him yesterday. It took everything in my bones to not write "welcome to hell".
Ok yes, I'm being dramatic, and yes I know that for some of us we chose to do accounting at university and now have exciting corporate jobs in Canary Warf (not that I'm sore about this at all - you know who you are). But for me, being a recent graduate is a pretty hard reality check.
(Prepare yourself for first world problems).
Firstly, no one tells you (unless you're corporate) that you basically have to start from the beginning. That when you go back home, all your friends who didn't go to uni now have jobs and money and have likely moved into their own house. You have a degree, but you're also poor, living at home, and have a ton of debt to pay off. You have to start from the bottom. Unless you know someone, then you're fine (not sore about that either).
Secondly, when you have a job, no one awards you for doing a good job, because you're just doing your job. You're doing what you're supposed to be doing. Equally, no one tells people off for doing a bad job either. It's much harder to fire someone than to give them an F on an exam, so you're going to get paid the same as that slacker whether you like it or not.
Thirdly, work makes you tired. I don't think it really matters what job you do or how long you work for either, work makes you tired. So you get home and the last thing you want to do is go out again. You find you're forcing yourself out the front door because you know you were more sociable before right? Weekends become chore days, because you have washing and cleaning to do, and you haven't had time to do them in the week because you were too tired.
Finally, no one gives a crap that you have a degree (or two in my case). You need experience. So good luck with that one because 'experience' in reality means you'll be working for free for a while. That's your parents favorite kind of work...
So what do I say to my little brother? "Hiii! Big Sis here to be the ultimate fun sponge and burst your bubble of dreams and aspirations..."
Granted it's not the same for everyone - in fact according to Facebook this isn't the case for anyone - you're all perfectly happy you liars.
So all I can say is this: Your job isn't who you are. Your job is what pays for the hobbies, the tickets, the travelling, the nights out, the nights in, and it's those things that define you.
I wish someone had said that to me a long time ago, I wish someone could remind me of that every day, and so hopefully, little bro, that works for you too.
