Maybe I was naïve. Maybe I was overly hopeful. Maybe I watched too many coming of age comedies and sitcoms. Maybe I spent too many hours daydreaming in class when I should’ve been listening. Maybe it was a combination of all these things. Whatever it was, being twenty something is not what I thought or envisioned it would be. Let me peel back the lid on my visions of grandeur that I had prior to graduating college when I was merely a carefree, sleep when I’m dead, go to class when it’s necessary, intern for free until I reach my credit card(s) limit, make out with anyone and everyone with a pulse and check my facebook incessantly like it was my livelihood kind of gal. I had illusions of graduating from college with my in demand communications degree from a small Jesuit liberal arts school and having my pick of six figure salary jobs. I thought I would have to fight employers off with a proverbial stick because everyone would want little ole’ me as an employee. I dreamed of working 9-5 in a great office with quirky caricatured coworkers like you see on TV. I thought my dream job would be the perfect accessory to my amazing social life filled with happy hours, expensive dinners and weekend getaways. Basically, I thought my post college life would be an episode of The Hills but with an actual job and less Spencer Pratt. Well then the recession hit and I decided to lower the bar…just a little. Okay, so I might not get a six figure salary at an entry level job and I might have to do more happy hours than expensive dinners but post college life will still be fabulous and everything I hoped for and more.
Well, look at me now. Spoiler alert: It’s not everything I hoped for and more. It’s a lot more frugal than fabulous and a hell of a lot more complicated than I thought. I’m living paycheck to paycheck at a job that was certainly not my “dream”, dating a guy I certainly didn’t think I’d be dating at this point, eating exclusively at happy hours and drive thru’s, and living in an apartment with my two best friends. No, it’s not a terrible life and yes, it’s certainly not what I envisioned but it is what it is—for now. Everyone (the voices in my head) told me my twenties were going to be a magical time filled with interesting jobs, liaisons with handsome men, world travel and bountiful options but I guess they were wrong. It’s much more complex than that and I’m just along for the ride.
Welcome to…What.The.Twenties.
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