I have had three jobs so far. I felt overtaxed and bored.I was an outsourcing agent twice. The BPO had been giving a lot of jobs to fresh graduates with exceptional comunications skills. This is a death sentence for a writing major like me. I forgot most of the grammar rules that I learned because of those jobs. So I decided to go back to school and take units in professional education so I could be a professional English teacher. Albeit not being able to take the licensure examination, I am still happy I went back to school right after my first job. But I stumbled upon a golden advice that I forgot to follow. Flourish in your hobbies.

I used to love checking and editing my classmates when I was still in high school. I used to write papers for them in exchange for review lessons. I also had an uncanny habit of trying to correct people's pronunciation. I was asked by my friends to try to apply for a teaching position in my old university but I could just imagine the karmic retribution of the things I put my college professors through.

So now I am an on-line English teacher. This sounds like a no-brainer but believe me it physically hurts to listen to mispronounced words sometimes.

I had a friend who became a game designer. He was also a writing major. He told me that even if his job doesn't pay as much now he knows that he would stay there because it not only challenges his artistic mind, it also feeds his ego. He just got promoted and he is designing games now. He used to work as a game blogger before. He used his hobby to earn him a job that he now loves. I envy him somehow.

But not everybody could finish school and not everybody took the course that they wanted. Some people were forced because of parental pressure or financial constraints. They end up working dead-end jobs for the money or not using their education in their present job. It is a painful reality that could be augmented by realizing or visualizing where you really want to be even before you get to your third year in college.

Take it from me. I still don't know what will happen next in my life. I am taking it slow now. I graduated 2006. I have been in the real world for two years now. And if you don't have a game plan you would be groping in the dark like I was. I realized I did not have exceptional skills to lure greater opportunities. I didn't even have an idea on how to budget my own money. I can't really move forward unless I learn how to live independently.
Unfortunately in my culture the day you truly become independent of your parents feels like small death to them. I don't really blame my mother but somehow the fact that she threatened to pull my college fund away if I worked instead of study, was a double-edged sword. I wish I could've learned how to be under pressure more in the real world than just meeting deadlines for papers and projects. I learned cramming in college. And if you do that in the real world, you will be struggling and stumbling all the way down.

I believe people can learn more from bad examples. Because they can see the life they don't want to have. I am glad to be out of that rut.

Learn more about this author, PinayWriter.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Making the transition from college to the world of work?
We want to hear your view. Write now!