The Reality of Graduating Without a Job

It's funny the questions you get asked sometimes that you weren't expecting. You're prepared for people to congratulate you on your graduation, to ask what your next step or what your future plans are, you're prepared to tell them you're searching for a job but... you aren't prepared for the question, how does it feel to be out of school?

You may be asking yourself, why aren't you prepared, that's a pretty innocuous question, I would expect to be asked. I mean, this is the first time that you don't go back-to-school shopping, you aren't registering for courses, buying textbooks, and planning that first day of school outfit. 7 years of higher education, that final walk across that final stage, and what is next? How do you feel? When you are still enrolled in school, prepping for graduation, you can't wait! The excitement, the unknown, what is in store for your future?? You have no more homework, no more tests, no more long lectures. But now you have responsibility, you have to work a 9 to 5, you have to pay your bills (if you weren't already doing this - which I do, mostly), you have to think of things like health insurance, car payments, actually fixing things that break on your car and in your home. Speaking of homes, how much longer do you want to rent? Do you want to own a home? Do you want to get married? What is your future, what is your plan, what is your next step?

It's overwhelming, as someone that not only is unsure of exactly what they want but also, where they want to be and what they want to do. I moved away from home to attend law school, far away, and it's always a tormenting question from family, acquaintances, and even myself: do I want to stay out East or move back home?

People have asked me more in the last week than ever before, how does it feel to be done with school? I try to answer lightheartedly, oh you know, the job search is rough, but I am glad I won't have more tests! It's a relief I'm not starting class this week!, etc. The truth, is much less sweet, it's that I'm scared, I'm lost, I'm confused. I'm reminded of the beginning line in the Robert Frost poem "The Road Not Taken" that was so often quoted in my youth.