Wake Up and Smell... the Real World?
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See and Be Scene
September 25, 2008 - 11:00pmSo there I was, minding my own business, wondering which CTB sandwich to order and what bar I’d hit later that night when, suddenly, it hit me. It hit me like a smack to the face — and not the good kind. As a Cornell junior, there is officially more college behind me than ahead; and I’m not quite sure what to do about it.
I hadn’t yet seriously considered life beyond college; it seemed an eternity before we class of 2010-ers would have to consider becoming so-called “real people.” How will we go out on Thursday nights when real jobs require punctuality, hard work and complete sobriety (unlike Friday morning 10:10s)? What happens when we have real bosses to answer to, as opposed to teaching assistants we’ve made out with? Even the idea of getting paid is a disheartening one. I mean, if we’re responsible for paying the bills, who’s paying for my Manhattan equivalent of an overpriced Collegetown apartment? Big Red Bucks will no longer be a lunch line shortcut and bursaring parking tickets will be but a distant memory. No longer will we cross streets without looking, knowing that cars will stop even if we blatantly refuse to look their way. Nevertheless, this cruel and unforgiving world is right around the corner. So, how do we prepare?
Between anticipating our very first frat parties in 2006 and now wondering what we’ll be doing in 2010, much has changed both within us students and in the surrounding world. We have progressed from the days of Psych 101 and gym requirements and moved on to houses we can cook in, bank accounts we can manage and parties in C-town we can (almost) legally go to. We know where to go and who not to do. We even take career fairs seriously…? Our summers no longer consist of camps and vacation time, but of networking and resume boosting. We must constantly prove ourselves to employers and professors in hopes of a brighter future. And you thought you were special for being you! Simple Cornellian…
As the ice caps continue to melt, a historical election transpires and the financial universe falls to shit, we students are starting to realize that the real world — unlike Cornell — isn’t necessarily fun and games. Or is it? As for the alumni we miss so much, it doesn’t take much more than Homecoming weekend to realize these now working “professionals” are but overgrown frat boys playing dress up. And the kids a few months my senior applying for positions in the “real world”? It’s fairly hard to imagine them settling down, reading The Times and working 40-hour weeks.
So when is it that we figure out how to act like real adults? It’s not like any post-graduate Bar Mitzvah ceremony will solidify this supposed coming of age, and even if it did, amazingly awkward voice drops and sporadic facial hair would not accompany the transformation. Rather, it seems the process is a more nuanced one and likely slower for those of us still reliving our glory via parking lot tailgates. Maybe there is no way to understand what it’s like to get older until we actually do it for ourselves.
Even if it’s hard for me to imagine a future beyond what I’m doing tonight, it turns out that I may not have to. While college is intended to prepare us for autonomous living and professional careers, the case seems to be that we’ll just figure it out as we go. And for those of us too scared to enter the real world just yet? There’s always grad school. Sure, we will all leave this place bigger, better and brighter; but this doesn’t mean that we need to grow up the day we toss up our grad caps. Confused? Don’t be. Call Mom, she always knows what to do.