As a college student in my last year of school, I spend a lot of time listening to people tell me what I should do to prepare for my post college life. I receive advice from teachers, fellow students, college graduates, guidance counselors, and even my parents. Everyone wants to provide their two cents on what someone else should do with their life after college. In some cases, the advice is much appreciated. In other cases, it can actually be quite disheartening. Certain people have a way of making the future seem like something to dread. I can be a bit of an idealist, and I don’t want to succumb to the idea that the real world is something that we have to suffer through.

Maybe it is because I am a millennial, or perhaps it is just my personal beliefs, but I want to thoroughly enjoy the work I do after I graduate. I don’t want to live my life hating the job I have to go to every single day. For some reason though, when I express this sentiment, people tend to shake their heads at me. Is it really too much to ask to have a job that I don’t despise? Am I naïve to think that I will find a job that I enjoy? Will I just have to find a job that I can tolerate? I hope not, because it’s a bit of a bummer to consider life, and all the work we do, as something we just have to get through.

A lot of the comments people make towards graduating college students make me feel incredibly naïve for having dreams about the future. Just the other day a professor made a rather shocking comment regarding a student’s hopes for the future. The student shared with the class that he didn’t love the job that he has now, and hoped he would find jobs he enjoys throughout his next 40 years of working. When the professor responded with a comment along the lines of “good luck with that” I found it rather insulting to everyone in the classroom who might have high hopes for their future. Are we really that silly for wanting to enjoy something that will take up a large chunk of our time for the next 40 years? I sure hope not. I want to keep dreaming of a life that I enjoy, and not one that I am just living to make ends meet.

Maybe I am naïve for dreaming. Maybe I need to bring my expectations back down to reality. But I don’t want to. I don’t want to lose sight of a future that excites me. Sure, we will all have bills to pay and responsibilities to fulfill. But who says I can’t enjoy myself along the way? I want to keep dreaming, and prove everyone wrong who snickers at the idea of actually, truly enjoying your life. So go ahead and call me a stereotypical millennial; I would rather be that than someone who stops dreaming because it is convenient.