Boy. That was hard to muscle through typing.
Congratulations class of 2012! What have we been up to?
Several of my fellow graduates are just now finishing school. Some have some more time to go in the great institution we call “higher education.” For those of us who have been working these past three years, a big chunk of us are at a crossroads. We are in our very first jobs. We have inched up from the bottom rung of the corporate ladder. We are making meager salaries or are still being paid per hour. We are reaching out into the world on our own!
But are we happy?
A common theme I have found for the class of 2012 is we are back searching. Should we go to graduate school? Should we change jobs? Should we pursue our childhood dream? Should we move out of town, out of state, or out of country?
It appears, that the working members of the class of 2012 have grown restless.
Is there a sign we should be looking for? Something we should be doing differently? Any way to truly know what the best move for ourselves is?
A few days ago I went to an awards ceremony for the high school alumni in my area. Among those being honored were a military colonel, a Google security administrator, a writer for NBC, a local Youth Minister, and so many amazing people who have brought honor to their alma maters. A common theme in what each of them were saying was, “I was doing one thing, but then I decided to follow my dream and look at me now!” Or, “The only thing standing between myself and my dream was ME!”
So, from all of that, here is what I’ve got.
If you know your dream, start taking steps toward accomplishing it.
If you don’t know your dream, figure out what it is, and then start accomplishing it.
If you can’t figure out what you DO want to do, start by doing anything and cross off your list what you do NOT want to do.
As long as you wake up excited about what you are doing… everything is going to be okay.
Class of 2012, look at how far you have come! If you can come this far in the last 7 years since you left high school, you have no idea how far you will go once your next professional journey begins!
Good luck fellow grads. Good luck.