Perpetual Stroll

The best way to recount the stories from this year is to start from the beginning. From here, I'll trace where life has taken me in the past 9 months.

I welcomed 2007 without any resolutions, which made me uncomfortable. My resolutions for 2005 and 2006 helped to give me some direction, but this year, I had a hard time thinking of any. When I think about it, I didn't really have any specific goals in mind other than determining what happiness meant to me and pursuing it.

And with that vague feeling, I began 2007 armed with a freshly minted degree and my youthful optimism. Time to change the world! Time to make great things happen! Time to live the dream of the liberal arts major! But I didn't even know where to start. While I do dream of doing something entrepreneurial and working with youth, I figured I'd give a regular day job a try and gain some "practical experience" in the corporate world.

50 resumes out. 4 interviews. 0 offers. I expected the job hunt to be frustrating-- I knew this from hearing the experiences of others who had graduated before me, but it nonetheless got to me and I began to feel some bitterness at a world that wouldn't hire me. There were a couple of jobs I really wanted and I have to admit I was pretty disappointed when I didn't get them. And then there were others in which the interviews were just short of a dog-and-pony show. But at the end of the day, it makes for a good story, right?

Eventually, it got to a point where I just needed to do something. Money was running low and so was my sanity. The bright hopes I began 2007 with had dimmed a bit already. I thought that I wouldn't have reached this point for a few more years. Sadly, most nights I thought to myself, "is this what 'real life' is like?"