Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Inspiration

As this semester comes to a bittersweet close, I look back at my college years and feel like it could've been only a year that has passed. I've learned some good things and certainly some bad things; but one thing that I know that has come with the good and the bad: finding out who I am and what I can do for those less fortunate.

When I draw upon the kind of personality and conviction that I have as a person, it's hard to say that I can completely identify myself. I have slowly become a person that genuinely cares about changing the world around me...one step at a time. I tend to think of my ideas as wildfire. A fierce ember that ignites another stem to create a fast-moving flame. When I ask God what I am put on this earth for, I know it is to be that inspiration and help others succeed in their own lives through the ideas I have in mind.

Knowledge is power. However, knowledge also comes with great risk. In the greatest stories we see heroines acquiring the knowledge only after they've been down a beaten path. For example: Pandora's Box, Adam & Eve, Bluebeard, etc. So what's the moral of the story? There is a window of knowledge lying beyond the door. But first, an individual has to open that door. Until we decide to open our eyes, we will not see the world around us.

Being an American is a great thing, we are blessed beyond belief with freedom. However, we've also acquired guns, germs, and steel along the way... (you see what I did there?). To be frank, we live in our clouded bubble. The only real light we see is what comes from the tube sitting on the entertainment center in front of us. After being shaken by the stories of experiences from two of my dearest friends, I can put aside my own problems and really feel blessed for what I have.

I had never really spoken of war or the tours that my friends have endured in the military. But after listening to two of them speak about their own PTSD at a social gathering (okay, the bar), it really dawned on me what sheltered lives we have as Americans. First hand accounts from my friends gave me insight into what lives others lead outside of our country. The struggle that families face in Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan truly compares to nothing here in the U.S. Seeing families with unfortunate circumstances is what we really don't hear about or see on the national news. My friends spoke of seeing many families who struggle to put food on the table for their families, having no means of obtaining clean water, and witnessing a life that consists of poverty and famine.

These everyday things that we take for granted is what truly inspires me as an individual. We are not put on this earth to take anything for granted. Yet, there are millions of children in our own backyard who can't get to school because they are taking care of their own parents, finding places to sleep every night because they don't have a stable home, and/or being around a drug-using household. This is the sad reality of an urban lifestyle. My passion to change these lives and let kids know that they have opportunity and a means to change their lives in a positive manner is what keeps me going through the day.

I may have struggled in my own college education with finances, the burden of having to work a job, and pay my rent at the same time. However, none of my struggles will ever be comparable to what others must overcome every single day.

My inspiration is to keep kids in school, help them graduate from high school, get them to understand how to pay for college, but also to keep them focused on the life that they want to live. The future of our country lies in the hands of the kids who need an education to uplift them from their circumstance. This is my inspiration to the world. What's yours?

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Graduation

As I count down the days until my graduation in May, it dawns on me how troublesome it has been to earn a degree in college. I've seen myself struggle with finances, altercations, and many challenges just to get the degree that  I need to find a job.

After applying to hundreds of jobs all within the past few months, it's become an even bigger challenge to find out what path God wants for me. All I can think about is the mental exhaustion that keeps me job hunting. Prior to January, I never understood how hard it would be to find a job straight out of college.

Choosing my degree was simple; I started to find out the area of interest and passion in which I wanted to give myself back to the world. My passion has always been for human rights, public policy, public relations, and community outreach. Yet, I know that if I had to obtain a Bachelor's degree all over again, I would've picked a different major. A major that would land me a stable job, a degree that would give me the ability to support myself and possibly support a family later on down the road. If I had to do it all over again without the financial burden, I would have chosen a degree in computer technology or an engineering degree that would land me a job fast. Yet, knowing the pay I'd be getting, I don't know if I would ever be happy. It isn't easy to be a person who is passionate about the field that they work in, but what's harder is choosing a field that has no opportunity to make money.

When it comes down to the liberal arts, many students are getting out of college and are forced to pursue a Master's and/or a P.H.D. due to the  demand of experience needed in the workplace. My issue is: how do I find a job that will sustain me until I can afford to go to graduate school? It seems inevitable that I'll ever find anything. I have all the credentials it takes to become a great leader in a business, but I have no experience. It seems that many college students these days are forced to be in service industry jobs just to keep up with their college debt. How did it end up becoming impossible for students like myself to graduate from college, yet not find a job? It's disheartening.

I have become extremely bitter when I hear about the economic situation that is overcoming our country. One, because I know it is affecting me. But two, because I know that hard-working students like myself are being forced to put themselves into more debt just to earn a Master's and P.H.D. to survive in a world that wants a degree and experience. It's like a catch-22; companies want experience from you, but they also want a degree. So how in the world do we gain experience if these places aren't willing to hire? The answer: internships. I slowly learned in my time in college that companies and sectors want students to gain experience through internships. The hard reality is this: many students are willing to do internships, but they are often unpaid. And for a student like me, who has had two jobs for most of my college career, there isn't any time left in my schedule to work an internship with no pay. My end result: I ended college with no internship experience. The pay that was offered was either non-existent or not enough to support my finances during college.

While I may be looking forward to graduating this May with a Bachelor of Arts in Government, I also have little hope that I'll find a decent paying job until I do pursue a Master's. With the economy steadily heading South, it has become more of an issue to find a job. Without ending this post on a bad note, I strive to leave a question posed to those that understand what I and other college students are going through: where exactly do students like myself start?