As millennials, society has taught us that striving for a college degree is what's expected of us. We are told from a young age to work hard and stay focused throughout our schooling so that we can achieve the dream; a college education. Throughout high school we were expected to get straight A's, play sports, be involved in clubs, volunteer on our weekends, and get above average scores on our SAT, ACT, SAT subject tests and so on. All of this training so that we could go to college and get our dream jobs. We heard "So where are you going to college" and "What are you gonna major in" more than we heard "How is your day?" on any given day. The people who chose not to go to college, well they were just throwing away their life in some people's eyes.

Fast-forward three years later, and we're about to be seniors in college. We're balancing jobs, school, relationships with friends and family and maybe even a love-life. We are plagued with the expectation that we in fact know the answer to, "What are you doing after you graduate?" or "So you have a job lined up right?" There is an expectation from our parents, our families, our neighbors, strangers you meet at the grocery store, and our colleagues that we have any idea what job we will be lucky enough to have once we have that 100,000 dollar piece of paper in our hand. While everyone has different goals and aspirations in life, we are all still expected to have a job pertaining to our major when we graduate. Let's ignore the fact that a college senior is juggling enormous pressure just to make sure they have those elective credits and upper-level capstone courses completed while still managing to get good grades while simultaneously having a job or multiple jobs; but yes, let's ask them what they're gonna do after they graduate.

Now, imagine you were lucky enough to actually graduate with your intended major. All of the blood, sweat, tears, and late night study sessions in the library have finally paid off and you've graduated! Now what? This is a question I probably asked myself 500+ times in my last semester of college. Some people had internships they hoped would move onto jobs, some people were applying to grad-school, and some were just like me: they had no idea. It is not for lack of determination or drive, we got ourselves through college for crying out loud. We all have fantasies of getting the job we long for, but the sad truth is that it's really hard to walk out of college with your bachelors degree and land your dream job. The generations before us seem to think it's as easy as it was back then, but it's not. Going to a four-year college and getting a degree wasn't as common 50 years ago as it is now. The Bachelor's degree is becoming synonymous with the high school degree these days. Most people graduating high school are going on to college which means more and more people are graduating with degrees (yay!) but that also makes us all the same. Yes, our grades may be different and some were more involved in college than others but we all ended up with the same degree.

I had the dream of moving to Los Angeles and getting a job in the movie industry. I would have settled for getting someones coffee if it meant it could lead up to my dream job of being a screenwriter. I learned very quickly out there that my degree didn't mean much. I applied for countless assistant jobs and was having no luck, because other people just like me, with degrees just like mine, were applying for the same positions. A lot of the jobs wanted experience, and I've ordered my fair-share of coffee, but that wasn't enough. I was not fortunate enough in college to be able to afford to have an internship. Most internships are unpaid and would not work around my classes and two paying jobs. While some people are lucky enough to be able to work for free or land the rare paying internship, I was not.

I felt defeated. I had worked my butt off in college, involving myself in multiple clubs, balancing my jobs so I could pay my rent, all while receiving an above-average GPA. So here I am, in my dream city, unable to get a 'real' job pertaining to my degree. We were told growing up that if we just worked hard enough, went to college, and got good grades we would have a good job.

I was determined to get a job that I actually wanted. Not a well-paying office job or something of the sort that had nothing to do with my passion. There are so many others out there that simply don't know exact what they want to do with their degrees or couldn't get jobs they were qualified for. I'm not knocking those who were fortunate enough to know what they wanted or land their dream job. I have met plenty of people who walked out of college into the job they wanted or are continuing their education in order to get their dream job. I'm just saying it's a lot harder than they made us think. No one really told us how to get those jobs out of college, just that we would. We get asked "So what are you doing with your degree" the second someone finds out we have one. My favorite is, "Well are you gonna get a real job?" If I had a dollar for every time I got asked that question, I wouldn't need a 'real' job. My 'fake' job pays my rent and bills just fine.

So for all of you out there in your first (or third or seventh or twentieth) year post-grad still working towards your dream job, I salute you. It's a tough world out there and I hope you never get discouraged enough to settle for a job that isn't what you love to do. It's been a year since I graduated and I've spent eight months living in my dream city and I'm now back in my college town working on going back to grad school. I have a good paying 'fake' job that I don't hate entirely but more importantly I'm following my dreams. I'm writing, which I love to do and I'm working at making that my career. Just because you've graduated and maybe don't have the job you want right now, doesn't mean you'll never get it. Take this time to explore who you are, move to a new city, fall in love, but always follow your dreams. Some people take longer to achieve them, and that's more than okay.