Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

by Lauren

Now that we're well into September and the first day of fall is rapidly approaching (in a matter of minutes, actually) it's becoming more and more obvious to me that I am not in college anymore. I knew I graduated, I have a diploma and the 3,000 family photos to prove it, but it definitely took a while for it to really sink in that I'm not going back to school this fall.

I find myself still categorizing time in terms of "semesters" and the "school year" even though both those things are completely irrelevant to me now. I think lots of people underestimate the enormity of the change from college to post-college life. In fact, it's not really even a matter of being in college or not, it's all school. I've been in school since I was three years old which means I haven't missed a "first day" in September in nineteen years! I don't remember a whole lot from before I was three, so I can honestly say that I know nothing of a life that doesn't revolve around school.

The purpose of school is to prepare us for the workforce (you can argue against that, but on a basic level it's true). Are we really prepared, though?

Let's start with high school. One of the basic purposes of high school is to prepare us for college (hence the term "prep" school for many private institutions). We take classes and tests that will develop and gauge our knowledge so that we can move on to the next step.

College is the "go-between" between high school and the Real World (yes I need it to be bold and capitalized to make it look scary) and, as such, it should get us ready for the next, next step. Does it, though? For me, college was an all-inclusive resort. Yes, I had to do work and I absolutely learned a lot from the courses I took, but everything I could possibly need was provided for me right at my fingertips.

I had a room to live in and someone came by every morning to clean the bathroom in my hall and vacuum the floors. To start the day, I'd stumble out of bed to walk across the street where I could swipe a card and eat "free" breakfast that had been cooked for me. I would then make my way through the rest of the day taking advantage of all sorts of "free" stuff that was provided for me at my every turn. My school had a dining hall, two "restaurants," a movie theater, a gigantic library, a shuttle service, a general store, an enormous yard (the "quad") -- what more could I really need?

Is this really how we get prepared for the real world?

The philosopher José Ortega y Gasset once said,

He who wants to teach a truth should place us in the position to discover it ourselves.

I suppose that's how we all have to learn what life is and what it really entails, by discovering it ourselves. One question I'd like to ask people on our upcoming road trip is how they discovered their paths and made this enormous transition.

Until then, I guess I'll have to continue learning the hard way, just like everyone else.

What Now?

by Lauren

Today, Nicole, Sarah, and I got interviewed by the Greenwich Time (our local newspaper) about our upcoming road trip.  Colin, the reporter covering our story, asked us all sorts of questions about our involvement with Road Trip Nation like where the idea came from, what we're going to be doing, and what we expect to get out of it.  As the three of us got talking about it, we realized just how serendipitous it was that this amazing opportunity should arise for us right now, as it has.  All three of us are currently in unusual circumstances even beyond the position of facing the ever-looming Real World.  I'll let Sarah and Nicole tell their own stories, but here's mine.

About a year ago, as a senior at Trinity College (the one in Hartford, CT... apparently there are 4 of them) I started receiving Career Services e-mails on a weekly basis.  Feeling very "on top of things," I decided to go to the first career meeting of the year in early September.  I walked into the meeting room to find myself surrounded by... Juniors?  Sophomores? Freshmen?!  Apparently I didn't get the memo that career-building starts before you're actually looking for a job.  I spent the next hour listening to people younger than I talk about their internships and the classes they were taking to help them land jobs in their specialized fields and I had to ask myself, What's my field?  What am I qualified for?

I immediately set up a meeting with our campus Career Counselor for the next day.  Her first question was, of course, "What do you want to do when you graduate?"  I was completely embarrassed to say "I have no idea.  Oh, and I'm a Senior."  She assured me that even though I had gone through three years of college with no career path in mind, that I would be just fine.  I spent the next few months setting up interviews with companies that hire in the fall and attending job fairs in Boston and New York City.  Fall semester of last year, I devoted many hours to cover letters, thank you letters, editing my resume, and researching jobs I'm make-believe qualified for.  I discovered that a Liberal Arts major (Political Science) didn't get me as far as I had thought.  Many companies required business, finance, and economics backgrounds that I simply didn't have.  I felt unqualified for everything, and decided to take absolutely any interview I could get.

Most of my job interviews led to nothing, especially the one I went on for a financial firm in Boston that lasted all of three minutes.  The interviewer asked, and I quote, "So what makes you think you're qualified for this?" and when I responded with my well-rehearsed list of accomplishments, she said "Well thank you.  We'll be getting back to the people we want to see again within the next week" - AKA, not you.

As the time went on, I felt less and less qualified to enter the workforce.  I decided to take a job with any company that wanted me, regardless of how painfully boring the job description sounded.  I spent the next few months in the interviewing process for a company that, ultimately, would have been a horrible match for me.  I went to four interviews there (all of which went quite well, actually) only to be informed in July that they were no longer looking to fill the position I had so diligently chased after.  I had so long ago given up the idea of doing anything I like or am interested in, that I started, once again, to scan job websites for life-stifling positions that I might, somehow, be capable of fulfilling.

I quickly ran out of steam, though, lacking any motivation to start spending the rest of my life doing something I hate (crazy, right?).  I felt directionless as I watched the weeks slipping by and adding to the mountain of "wasted time" I was building.  That's when Nicole, Sarah, and I went out to Cosi for a five hour lunch that we will never forget.

As it turns out, we were all facing the same dilemma.  Plans had fallen through, post-graduate expectations not met, dreams way out of reach....  We all have our own stories, but we had one thing in common - an undeniable feeling of What Now?  We all talked about the things we care about and what we'd like to be doing, but how on Earth do you go about that?  Doing something I like?  Impossible.  For a long time I've wanted to be a photojournalist, a travel writer, or both, but had no idea that such a thing was attainable.  Then again, being a part of Road Trip Nation seemed fairly out-of-reach, as well.  In fact, seeing Nicole apply for the RTN grant and get it really made me ask myself how many things I didn't get just because I never even tried.

I am so looking forward to traveling around the good ol' US of A talking to people who followed their own dreams and achieved them, because hey - if they can do it, so can we, right?