Follow your dreams

The majority of undergraduate seniors have faced a single dreaded question: What am I going to do after graduation?
Ideally, we anticipate and expect to be placed in a dream job within our chosen field of study. Oftentimes, even with the aid of internships or field experience, it is difficult to find a career in the field you studied. Yes, the job market is currently in shambles. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12.3 million people are unemployed in this country. A high paying job will not just fall out of the sky into your lap like a Corvallis winter drizzle.

While I agree with both of those proclamations, I believe far too many students are coaxed into attending college by societal pressures. Colleges nationwide are currently manufacturing breeds of mechanical, corporate drones. The promises and expectations that come with a college degree are nothing more than tricks. College is one gigantic hoax. According to Business Insider, about one third of college graduates end up acquiring a job that doesn’t require any sort of degree.

College attempts to rob you of your creativity and true passions, while simultaneously transforming you into a caffeine-addicted, stress-filled basket case. The pressure placed on consistently performing well in your college can propel many down a path of agonizing all-nighters and mind-numbing energy stimulants. NBC News reported that one in five undergraduate students feels stressed all or most of the time. Additionally, Amy Gonnella, of the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky, conducted a study that showed positive correlation between caffeine intake levels and GPA. The anxieties that accompany completing the requirements of your major of choice can be overbearing, and seemingly unconquerable for some.

Here is the question everyone should ask him or herself: What would I do if money were no object?
Granted, the opportunities and people you are confronted with in your four, five or six years of undergraduate study can, and oftentimes do, have a strong and revolutionary impact on your life. They may cause you to drastically alter the moral stances, life goals and characteristics that symbolize your version of an “enjoyable life.” I wouldn’t trade the friendships I have established or the life experience I have gained in my Oregon State University tenure.

It can be explained in a very simple equation. Let’s say you choose to enter a field of study you despise but know will have a great payoff upon completion. Dragging through the monotonous lectures, exams and group projects, you finally obtain a degree and a job in your hypothetical field. Then you’ll spend, essentially, a lifetime doing things you don’t like for people you can hardly stand in order to go on living your daily life. This is foolish.

What’s better? This is an ill-advised philosophy we so blindly practice, which we then dispense to our children in hopes they live a satisfying life. And so the cycle continues.

According to a Right Management survey of 1,000 Americans and Canadians, 84 percent of employees admit they are currently dissatisfied with their job. Why spend the duration of your life doing things you hate?
I urge you to not be complacent, to take risks, to follow the passions that motivate you. Don’t just play it safe and roll over.

Kyle Hart is a senior in psychology. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Hart can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.