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viewsA Lesson in Humility
By scranor1, Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 2 comments
A College Grad Sings the BluesI’ve always considered myself to be a humble person, at least that’s how I was raised. As a recent college graduate, I suppose my ego had somewhat inflated. A certain pride, if you will, fluttered in my last day of school and swelled somewhat when I found I was to graduate Magna-Cum Laude. My last semester, I was in the middle of an internship and the job hunt slipped out that number one priority spot. In fact, it didn’t even dawn on me that I was about to graduate sans a job until the final week of classes. I was working eight hour days when I wasn’t in school, so I must admit that I already felt employed. The internship persisted for another month past graduation, and I thought perhaps I could talk her into extending my internship longer. Two weeks ago, I found out otherwise.
With my internship over, and no job in sight, it finally hit me; I was the graduate I swore I’d never be—the jobless kind. I had to face it, unless you were going into medicine or teaching, there’s no guarantee of employment. I was faced with only two choices. I could starve, or I could go to my fallback—waiting tables. I admit that I did consider starvation for a short period. Sure, I went to college to NOT have to work in restaurants anymore, but I was faced with a cold, hard truth. There just isn’t that much hiring going on in this kind of economy. But it didn’t make my return to customer service 101 any easier.
I gathered my entire server paraphernalia one piece at a time. First, I found my apron. Inside was my server book covered in dust. My uniform was hung in the very back of my closet. I remembered the final day I took it off and rejoiced that this was the last time I would ever have to wear it again. A few weeks prior I had almost disposed of the shoes because I knew I would never wear them for any other reason but luckily, I had not. The night before I cleaned and pressed my clothes, shined my shoes, stuffed my apron full of new pens. Once again, I was ready to go back to the place I had been so many times before.
As I drove to work that night, my body cried out that I should turn the car around and go home. I thought I might cry as I recounted my many years of hard work. Often times people had told me of the pride that comes from earning your own way through college. I had done all that, and yet, here I was forced back into the very job I began school to escape.
As I turned the corner the restaurant sat on, all that pride just sort of drained out of me. I realized that finishing college was just the beginning. The real test had just begun….
To be continued.
P.S. I can't tell you where I work, but the picture might give you a hint.
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2 Comments
I know it must seem tough
I know it must seem tough coming out of college right now. But I promise you are not alone, even from those of us that graduated years (or decades ago). I graduated in 2000 when things were pretty good. My friends came out of school with jobs they had accepted months before we even graduated, but I was a journalism major who had temped every summer/holiday in offices. What did I have to do right after school? Temp in offices!
I did that for almost a year, while I interned for free at a local magazine and interviewed. I eventually moved to NYC with no job, where I immediately got a job temping in offices to support myself. It kept me afloat for 3 months while I interviewed. It was my boss at the temp position that became my mentor and got me an interview at a magazine that started my career. You never know where opportunity will come from. It could be a customer! Sandra Bullock once said, if she never made it in movies, she could always fall back on waiting tables. So that always kept her knowing she'd be ok. Hang in there!
Thanks for Your Vote of Confidence!
I'm trying really hard not to let it shake me. I figured if nothing else, I could share what I'm going through and then maybe someone else out there could read this and not feel alone. Thank you so much for your thoughts, and I know I just have to get out there and pay my dues. It's nice to hear inspirational stories though!
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