“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve just been slapped with inevitability…”
-C., walking home from the graduation ceremony
Well, it’s happened, I’m graduated. Officially completely in charge of taking care of myself, something I’ve always prided myself on being able to do…until about a week ago. I got off the plane from London, spent all the next day and a half cleaning and organizing my flat (there’s a long and infuriating story behind that, but I won’t go into it), and then had to scurry off to my Commencement thursday afternoon, as well as be at my Convocation at 8am on Friday morning. Since then I’ve been moving apartments, picking up a car, dealing with two Meet the Parents situations, and sending off applications and resumes at a furious rate.
- Don’t let the enforced smiling fool you, it hides mental anguish and sheer panic
So! I’ve been running on full power for over two months now (because if you think I managed a single full night of sleep the entire time I was in England, you’re nuts) and I have an uncomfortably sneaky suspicion that I’ll be continuing full speed ahead until my sixties when I can retire. And if you think university was tiring, then this strange thing called independent adulthood is downright exhausting!
Initially the plan was to move to England to be closer to my family when I graduated, but the state of the dollar utterly forbids that right now; I graduated debt free (of which I am pretty proud) but without any extra funds at all, to say nothing of what it would take me to move to and job hunt in the UK. So I have to stick around in the US for a while and probably get back to Europe in baby steps. The immediate goal is to save enough to at least move back East in 6 to 8 months since trying to find a job with international scope here in the West is a bit like pulling teeth: painful, inconvenient, and requiring drugs to get through the experience.
There are a ton of good points to my sticking around, however! I have a great network of extraordinary friends, a good place to live, my amazing godfamily a half hour away, and some job opportunities that may not by my life’s vocation, but will keep my in my flat, buy gas and food, and allow me to start putting money away. I’m nervous about this new phase, but the sort of nervous that makes you lower your head and bull on through. I’m not sure exactly where I’m going or positive how to get there, but post-university life isn’t so intimidating, only mildly panic inducing from time to time. In a good way!
Small Dog Syndrome 
Please tell me Jeff told your parents he milks cats! “I’ve got nipples Greg, could you milk me?”
Wait a minute… are you from England?… huh?