My daughter graduated from The College of New Jersey today. The main ceremony was rained out at 11 but they had the smaller ceremony indoors for music majors at 1. All the kids were dressed up in cap and gown like Greek or Roman scholars or whatever they are supposed to look like, and so were the teachers.
Each kid wrote something to be read at the graduation, and there were a couple of teachers taking turns reading them out loud as the kids stood individually. It was usually along the lines of thanks to mom and dad and family and friends, and a few special teachers or something.
They were acting like these kids are set for life now, but the fact is, I doubt that many of them will even have full time jobs come September. My daughter won't. There are too many teachers around here. She'll have to get substitute jobs from day to day. I don't know how much fun that is going to be. Sub teaching can really suck.
I just have to let that go. I floundered around a while after graduating college. So did my sister and brother. My sister graduated from Columbia University as a chemical engineering major, and she had to take a job in Civil Service with the Social Security administration for a while before she could land a job in her field. My brother did all kinds of things before settling on his career. When I got out of college the first thing I did was take typing tests and get a temp typist job. So I shouldn't be down about the fact that we just spent a fucking fortune on a top school and my daughter just graduated with lots of A's and great recommendations, and she can't even get a full time teaching job. I felt like the graduation ceremony was sure shooting the bull around. They're letting these kids go to nothing. There's nothing out there for them, so why all the congratulations? Just a bunch of hocus pocus. Caps and gowns.
I didn't express any of this to my daughter, and I won't. I just went up to her and told her it was a big win and she did great. She smiled. Like Kahlil Gibran wrote, you have to let your kids go, like an archer shooting an arrow, you just let the arrow fly.
At least this kid has motivation, so she'll be trying. She has the mindset of a winner. Just give it time.
lfbno7 posted on May 16, 2008
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Comments
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pickersplock said on May 16, 2008....
You must be very proud of your little Leafblowerette! -
secretlife said on May 16, 2008....
like you said, we all floundered around when we were done getting our degrees, and how many never got a job in the field they studied? it's not about that today....it was about her accomplishment in getting that degree, which means something .....i really believe that's true.so congratulations to you and to your daughter.... -
diabolicdame said on May 17, 2008....
Congrats to her and the proud father! And thats a little depressing.. I'll be graduating college next year and those prospects are a little scary.. -
lfbno7 said on May 17, 2008....
I knew that Leafblowerette would do it in style. She's going to make me prouder when she takes life by the horns and does what she wants with it.
I guess anything that involves lots of effort is an accomplishment that means something. To me, the purpose of college is preparatory. It's not an end in itself. It must lead to something and not just be a "glory days" type of memory. That's a good thing for it to be, but I'd hope it would be more than that.
I was pretty depressed too when I graduated college. I knew the party was over. But what follows it does not necessarily have to be a depressing thing. It might turn out to be a really cool thing, if you plant yourself in a field where you enjoy growing. -
hotaka said on May 17, 2008....
I think most of my old high school chums who graduated from uni found themselves in similar situations. Nearly everyone I have hooked up with recently on FaceBook has either followed a different and unanticipated career path or taken a long time to come around to doing want they set out to do for a steady pay.
I think university is just about proving that you can stick with four years of post-secondary education. Then you get a job that has little or nothing to do with your education and then your real adult life begins.
However the future turns out, congratulations to your daughter for making it. She will find the path that best suits her.