To Dream or Not To Dream? That is the question.
Posted on January 23rd, 2010 | 2 Comments »
I’m sitting here on my bed in New Jersey, it’s Daddy’s birthday so I came back home for the weekend. And after my first week of school, I think it has finally hit me. This Is It! This is my last semester, graduation is around the corner, and I am scared…shitless, but simultaneously so excited to be free from the burdens of academia. I made a decision not to go to graduate school (immediately), I like to call graduate school the “safety net” for most college graduates. When you still don’t know what to do with your life after four years (or three in my case), why not pay an extra 30 to 50 grand to get another degree…. which really in the scheme of things doesn’t protect you much more than a bachelor’s in our current economy. Unfortunately, networking gets you further than research papers and exams these days.
I’m more of a sky diving girl, either I am going to jump and soar… or fall straight on my ass. That’s pretty much what I plan to do. I like to think of my family as my extra parachute, but I am not too good at asking for things, so I am not sure how much use I’ll get out of it. I get yelled at all the time, “Arielle, you’re a student! Stop trying to handle everything by yourself.” Yes, easier said than done, but I have learned slowly to let some support in 
and yes it has made my life much easier.
I started thinking about what I am up against post-graduation:
1. A recession. Yes, this is nothing new. Not many places are hiring.
2. I am passionate about being a writer…in a recession.
3. The idea of moving back home/away from New York makes me go cold.
But in all, the one thing everyone knows about me is that I have the most sickening work ethic and I am so darn stubborn when it comes to sticking to my dreams. I’m not completely in my own world though. I already have two 9-5 jobs lined up for post graduation while I transition into being an author, filmmaker, and self-supported entrepreneur.
My dad always says though, “Well, Arielle, I won’t say that what you want to accomplish is impossible. There are always 1 or 2 that make it.”
Yea, 1 or 2…that may be true but my mind doesn’t think very much in terms of limitations. And, honestly, everyone’s path to success is different. What may look like absolute reckless craziness to one person, may be a yellow brick road for another.
At the end of the day…in the words of Steve Job, the co-founder of Apple and former CEO of Pixar, “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way i know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”
I want them to say when I’m dead and gone, “Whew, she sure knew how to live.”
It’s as simple as that.
Ari
Steve Job’s 2005 commencement address at Stanford University
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc]
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