Nov 03 09
Help Wanted? Graduating into the Recession
By: Kelly Shea
Recent College Grad/The SNP Part-Timer
Graduating college in the spring of 2009 could be compared to waking up in a twenty foot hole with a spoon and a pen and being told to “get creative” to get yourself out. Graduation weekend was filled with the usual fanfare, and by fanfare I do mean alcohol, and a lingering sense of dread. Graduating into a depressed economy is full of conflicting emotions, both those of accomplishment and failure.
My wisest and more financially stable friends dove right into graduate school, others suddenly claimed that their oft criticized restaurant jobs “really weren’t that bad.” A small percentage promised to pay their gullible parents back for the plane tickets and took off for Europe with a backpack and a credit card.
I found myself working an unpaid internship and babysitting. I suddenly dreaded the presence of anyone over twenty-five who might be inclined to ask the question “What do you do for a living?” After stuttering for a half a minute I would usually change the subject and then later slip in the fact that I graduated with honors, just to reassure myself that at one time I had been at least moderately successful in one area of my life.
Yet in many ways, the infertile job market is freeing. Not only does it lower expectations but also it allows people to do things that they normally wouldn’t do if they couldn’t blame it on the economy. The uncertain market takes the finality out of decisions, since there really is no job security anyway.
I sublet my apartment for two months and went back to my hometown and taught Language Arts at a summer school for learning disabled and underserved inner-city students. I recommend this experience for anyone who is feeling a little down and out, since it reminded me that there is absolutely nothing worse than being in sixth grade. I also took every freelance writing assignment that came my way, feigning expertise subjects such as cooking and child rearing. Another warning not to believe everything that you read.
I have become luckier in recent months and found work with both SNP and the San Francisco Unified School District. Graduating into a barren job market has given me a deeper understanding of the American inclination to define each person by what they do. As Americans, we tend to define ourselves shallowly by what we do for a living – perhaps hoping that the implicit social ethos of this work will speak for our greater personal identity.
I now attempt to abandon categories, such as success versus failure, “real job” or part time. The recession has given us all, recent graduates or not, a bit more time for inner dialogue and debate. Still not convinced? Housing, gas, and food prices are down and many bars and restaurants are extending happy hour long into the night. A little optimism goes a long way.
Our home business was really affected by the Economic recession, we have to cut jobs just to cover up our losses. fortunately, we have already recovered. “