After surviving years of studying, sleepless nights, exams that eerily resemble a decathlon instead of a simple tool used to assess knowledge and skill, and countless opportunities to dive into non-school related ventures forfeited due to the aforementioned fixtures, we finally reach that monumental day: Graduation Day! It’s finally here, that special crowning achievement that not only demonstrates that we have survived every challenge that has come our way, but also that we have made more progress than we realized. What a feeling!
And then reality sets in and we are honest enough with ourselves to note that something seems amiss. But what could it possibly be? We have so much going for us that we should be floating on the clouds and basking in the bliss that comes with the accomplishment of a long sought after goal. Then it dawns on us that graduation from grad school lacks the complete celebratory feel that accompanied graduation from undergrad. Why is that? It’s because we know that the challenges that we encountered while attending grad school were only the tip of the iceberg, especially when grad school was law school and the ensuing months promise a two-month crash course covering three years worth of law study masquerading as bar prep.
Yet, in some regards studying for post-grad licensing exams may not even be the most challenging of the culprits. In fact, it is quite possible that the post-grad job search is one of the scariest ventures known to man. Okay, it may sound like I am exaggerating, and in some regards I am, just a little. But make no joke about it, the post-grad job search is a beast, as it typically consists of the submission of application after application, subjection to interview after interview, and waiting and more waiting. During which time we are required to contemplate numerous questions, such as the infamous “where do you see yourself in ten years,” or “what do you want to do with your life?” And for those of us who are in a similar boat to the one that I am in, this particular line of questioning, in many instances, is the most baffling, because, like me, many of us have no clue where they plan to be in ten years, and may not even have a clue what they want to do with the next year, let alone with the rest of their lives.
And that is okay. Despite the fact that so many of our colleagues, friends, and former classmates may have solid plans for the next five, ten, even twenty years of their lives, it is okay that we have no idea what we plan to do and/or where we plan to be. It. Is. Okay. Because sometimes it is in the living and experiencing over the course of time that we eventually discover the next steps that are appropriate for us, and in due time each of those steps will tack onto the previous one until the fog lifts and the big picture finally becomes clear.
Sanguine Mango 