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I had always understood that having a college degree paved the way to employment. Everyone must know I was severely jaded.

My parents are 'churchworkers', meaning they are employed by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (to which we subscribe) and their positions are with LCMS institutions. That's a fancy way of saying they're Lutheran school teachers. Churchwork is extremely different from so-called 'liberal arts'. Prospective churchworkers study religion and theology - as well as their concentrations - at church-related universities. As their time at the university draws to a close, a Synodical Placement Director with the university notes the student's preferences and strengths and matches them with available churchwork positions. There are no other university career centers (that I know of) that go to this much effort. Each time a churchworker looks for a career advancement or some such change, they apply to a certain department with the synod, and that department puts the churchworker and the prospective employer in contact with each other. Since my parents are both churchworkers, that is the extent of my experience with careers. Until now.

After that lengthy explanation, you may be able to see how I assumed that college and a subsequent and meaningful career were inexplicably connected and relatively easy to achieve. I let myself believe that I had only to attend college (and do well, of course), and some mystical being would find me a job. It is not so.

I did what I thought I had to do: I went to college, did fairly well, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree. I even tried to study toward a churchwork position, but I was not very well suited to it and ended up with a liberal arts degree. When I discovered how little my school's career center could and would do, I was at sea. As it turns out, a general degree in music is not very helpful. I aspire to all these things: entrepreneurship (starting my own business in making greeting cards and handmade paper), book publishing (editing), music publishing (my ideal position is as a Music Engraver - typing the music into the computer for printing), even volcanology. Unfortunately, I can not get a job in any of these positions.

The main obstacle? Experience. Music companies of every kind seem to only hire experienced people. Of course, a 'recent college grad' can't obtain experience without being hired, and since no one is hiring, they can't get experience, and they can't get the job they want without experience.

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