Is this real life?

By Devon Horowitz

As the semester winds to a close, my peers are getting ready to for the end of classes, nearly a month of relaxation and lots of holiday cheer. However, I'm having a bit of a different experience. Yes, my classes are ending as well, but it seems a bit more final. Yes, world, I'm going to be done with college in just one week. For good.

Graduating in December has been an interesting and eye-opening experience. I've been fortunate enough to land a job, but it has been quite a ride. Between countless applications, interviews, writing tests, resume redrafts, recommendations - I've learned that getting a job is a job in itself. It's worth it, obviously, but it's exhausting and can be discouraging at times.

However, the most interesting thing I've dealt with in my decision is hearing the reaction of other people. The conversation goes something like this:

Devon: Yeah, I'm actually graduating early, finishing up in December.
Other person: Oh, wow. So are you going to go travel?
Devon: Um, nope.
Other person: Oh, so you're just going to take it easy for the semester?
Devon: Uhhh, no?
Other person: So what are you doing?
Devon: I got a job, actually.
Other person: What? Why would you do that? Why would you ever graduate early? You have the rest of your life to be a real person.

That last sentence is like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. And it's uttered frequently. Very frequently. Especially by people who are 5 or 6 years out of college, cursing their own post-grad lives by displacing things on me.

I understand what people are trying to say. However, I take offense, not just for myself, but on behalf of a lot of GW students. I think I, along with many of my peers, have been "real people" for the past few years. Not only are we dedicated, hardworking full-time students, most of us work 20-25 hours a week, have multiple responsibilities in extracurriculars, pay our way through college through jobs & student loans and still manage to have a bustling social life.

In fact, my post-grad life is going to be shockingly less stressful for me. In fact, I'm keeping a second freelance job because I'm already anticipating needing something to do.

I realize that not everyone is like this. I thrive on busy schedules, responsibilities and involvement. However, I think that many GW students are like me because our campus life encourages this sort of lifestyle. A lot of universities are like a four-year vacation for students, in which the biggest stress of the week is where to tailgate before the football game. However, GW isn't like that. You're constantly surrounded by people doing a million incredibly impressive things, so it's hard to not be inspired by this.

This sort of lifestyle has already proven to be an advantage in the job market. Employers seem to be very impressed that I, like many of my peers, have balanced this much and feel confident that I am a candidate that can multitask, handle stress and manage my time. These are incredibly important skills for most industries (especially mine, like public relations), and my best advice would be to tout these experiences when you're interviewing.

I'm hoping my December graduation will be worth the questioning. Yes, I'll have to miss spring break in Jamaica and most Tuesday nights at McFadden's, but I'm excited for this new chapter. And while it's true that I have the rest of my life to be a "real person", that's quite all right with me. Real life is looking pretty damn good.