Numbers Crunch

My life is in total and utter disarray, or at least it feels that way. College is such an unbelievable whirlwind that it becomes difficult to remember what you ate for lunch, and so far, senior year has by far been much worse. There is always something on the horizon, and as soon as you catch up, you get a phone call about a bar trip and you wake up at 3 p.m. the next day with clothes and Chinese food strewn across your room. Fortunately, I have inspiration on my side, in the form of my Big Brother in the Fraternity.

He graduated last semester, and has spent the past week and a half in State College Town visiting, the unfortunate victim of a ruthless job market. He graduated with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, and after a summer flipping Brewers tickets, selling beer at Miller Park, and driving all over the great state of Wisconsin (where he hails from) he failed to find any sort of employment. So he returned "home" to drink away his despair for a few weeks.

He is not alone. His pledge brother is returning to State College Town this weekend as well, he also jobless following graduation. Another brother struggled for 8 months parking cars and serving Italian food before he landed an entry-level job with ESPN. Now, we don't exactly export the most marketable people in the world, but this has not been a common trait just of my fraternity. I continue to hear tales of people struggling to find employment once they leave the college arena, something my father is wont to warn me on.

I recently (like, 5 minutes ago) completed an application to one of the most competitive after graduation programs in the United States (it shall remain nameless). I have high hopes for my acceptance, but fear the fall out. With stories about the market crash on top of all the budget cuts and staff slashes at newspapers and media outlets around the country, what is a writer to do?

My goal is to score a job before Christmas, and if I am able to do it, I will consider myself unbelievably fortunate. So many of my fraternity brothers waited and waited to begin searching for jobs, instead ignoring it in an attempt to soak up their senior years. Inflation is rampant everywhere, but nothing has been deflated quite like a college diploma. Work sucks, but probably not as much as my big brother's days.

Me: So, BSB, how are you liking your triumphant return?
BSB: Well, the days are just brutal to get through. I am not a TV watcher, but I have nothing to do all day while everyone is at class. I watched every episode of Intervention on demand today.
Me: Well, you're enjoying the partying right?
BSB: Yea, but sleeping on a couch for two weeks is starting to take its toll on my mental health.

Now, we all dream of having the college life forever, of having little to no responsibility and partying at every possible moment, but if one of the great slackers I've ever known is having trouble enjoying two weeks of nothing but partying, maybe we all should put our attention on becoming gainfully employed.

Speaking of partying, tailgate tomorrow, fuckin' excited. I have a video from one of last semester's graduates who actually is gainfully employed that is quite humorous, but it is on my phone and I'm trying to figure out how to save it to my computer without shelling out $30 for Quicktime Pro. So, hopefully I can get that posted for everyone's viewing pleasure. Have a great weekend readers.