College and university commencements have taken place all over the country by now. Hundreds of thousands of youngsters (and some oldsters) have "commenced" to the next phase of their lives.
The pomp and circumstance are over. The parties are over. Now the 2011 graduates have moved on to what I call the "what next?" phase. I have had an interesting seat in the theatre of this process since I not only work for a University, but my youngest child "commenced" this year. Commenced what?
I have now experienced four children and stepchildren going through this process and I have begun to see a distinct pattern. Each of them, after commencement, had a "cushion year." This was the year that had me deeply concerned where each of them was concerned.
For example, my oldest stepson graduated with honors from SUNY Albany, then proceeded for the next year to wash dishes in the kitchen of a local Mexican restaurant until a family friend rescued him, found him a "paying" job (because we couldn't really say he was earning a living washing dishes) and off he went to work in a law firm in Dallas; my older daughter graduated with honors with a degree in musical theatre, with talent we applauded from the time she first appeared as the youngest orphan in a community theatre production of "Annie." After commencement, she went to work waiting tables at a local restaurant. She did that so well, I was beginning to think it would be her career until she announced after about a year that she was moving into her own place. She finally got her Master in Education and is a happy second grade teacher who occasionally sings and acts in community theatre.
My second stepson graduated and delivered pizzas for about a year until he decided to take the LSATS and will enter Rutgers Law School in the Fall.
So, do you see a pattern emerging? This year's graduate, my younger daughter, has lined up a job as a nanny for the summer, earning pretty decent money while she decides what she wants to do in September. I try to remind her that September is really not that far off.
Who expects a college graduate to leap into a job for which their education has supposed to prepare them immediately after commencement? It took me eight years, during which time I married and had a child, before I figured out what I could and would do to earn a living. And the world, especially the economy, was much easier back then. I think I earned $20M a year at my first "career" position and was thrilled.
So, put your heads on your cushions, graduates, for as long as you need to ponder and reflect. Reflection is a good thing if you can afford it.
