People like to tell me what to do with my life.

Since I discovered that I’m graduating way too soon and now that I’ve been working at a company full of 40-somethings with children, I’ve received a lot of advice.

post 129 image 1

It seems like everyone has something to say to a young whippersnapper like me. A bunch of the PhD’s at my workplace have, at some point, sat me down and given me the story of their life. Which is fine. I could use some guidance right now.

post 129 image 2

The problem is that I’ve received a lot of conflicting advice. My younger peers tend to think differently from the old dude chemists at work.

post 129 image 3

I thought for a moment that maybe it was a generation thing. The older generation has a different perspective on life, yeah? But then my old advice-givers started sounding like my younger ones…

post 129 image 4

…and vice versa…

post 129 image 5

At the very least, they all agree on one thing.

post 129 image 6

Unless it’s my family. In that case, it becomes

post 129 image 7

Ok, well, my family doesn’t think much like anyone at all.

post 129 image 8

Ah, Asian families. At any rate, I know that just a bachelor’s in biology won’t get me anywhere. Thus I have the Princeton GRE study guide at the moment. It’s sitting on my bed, reminding me of my impending graduation and the very real possibility of failure.

post 129 image 9

All this advice has really put me in a muddle. Every person has the best of intentions. Every person thinks they have it all figured out. Every day brings me a step closer to becoming a lost college grad. (Which, at this point, I’m pretty convinced is what I’ll become.) My co-op has mostly taught me that the 9-5 cubicle life is not ideal, so I’m back right where I started.

In the end, the only person who can decide what to do with my life is me. Because I’m the one living it. At the end of it all, I’m the one who has to decide.

So I have to take a good, long look at my options. I need a little introspection. I need to… follow my heart.

post 129 image 10

Next year is gonna be good.

10 thoughts on “People like to tell me what to do with my life.

  1. Yeah, that’s the challenge here…

    There is actually no advice to give.

    Maybe a few hints:

    1st: What would you like to do (as a lifelong work/profession)?

    2nd: Does your current aducation enable you to do that?

    3rd: Well…go for it!

  2. This old dude will tell you this: you only get to go around once (maybe twice), so do what will make you happy long-term, use some sense, and realize how wonderful the world is. You should try very hard to enjoy yourself by doing something that will allow you to survive while enjoying the trip. I don’t know about your spiritual views, but, for me, God is always with me, so it will be okay. All I have to do is believe, love, and trust. It gets easier when you do that.
    Scott

  3. Hi Vy,

    what will make you happy is not a single thing, it’s the hole package called life !

    It’s the pursuit and what you put into that package, so choose careful but also try new things as much as possible. Remember: Everythings counts…..

    RoBo

    • Sage advice! As one who loves to travel, I totally agree the idea of trying new things as much as possible.

      Everything counts, huh? I once read that people shouldn’t be pursuing a career, but a lifestyle. Maybe there’s some wisdom behind those words!

      • Call it career, call it lifestile, it all belongs to the package, your life.

        Find purpose and meaning, you need both in life.

        Party, Travel, Events, all are nice things.

        But when you come home, who or what is waiting for you?

        RoBo

Leave a Reply to comicsmaniac Cancel reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s