It turns out I need a job for the fall. I’m not supposed to need gainful employment; hell, I’m a college student! But unfortunately, it appears that I cannot afford to make no money during my term off from school. Or at the very least, I can’t afford to lose money. So it’s time to sell my soul once again to that demon known as the real world.
I updated my resum� yesterday. I even found some website that had tips on how to make your resum� more effective. It turns out that it says less about me than ever. Now that everything uses bullet points (I had been using semicolons), “the man” can read and dismiss my qualifications just that much faster. But then, seeing as I’m sending out much of this unsolicited, it’s probably good not to belabor folks too much before they turn me down.
It’s not that I’m cynical about the whole labor market thing, so much as the fact that I just feel completely unaccustomed to it. My first job in high school involved an interview, but no resum�. My second job–as a grocery store cashier–has lasted for four years, and certainly didn’t require a resum� either. I don’t feel like my resum� is bad, or like I’m unqualified, but I’m not accustomed to being in a competitive world. It turns out that the real world doesn’t actually work like the cozy Liberal Arts College world.
I talked to my dad, the source of any and all connections I have, to try to come up with any other ideas. It looks like I’ll be unable to get a fellowship to pay for an unpaid internship with the microcredit group BASIX. That would’ve been a sweet deal, too. I’m still going to try to do that next summer; there’s a summer fellowship I can apply for next year that would be perfect for that. If none of my other soliciting for paid internships works out, I’m going to solicit an unpaid internship at home in Ithaca. What professor wouldn’t want a volunteer lackey kicking around, right? At least that way I can live at home and I won’t lose any money. Maybe in the meantime I can take a class or two at Cornell.
So I guess the point is, I’m not actually leaving the academic bubble just yet. I always have an easy way out; this time, it just involves making less money. I’m still spoiled. But I’m growing increasingly worried that I won’t ever want to leave.
Note: I am definitely turning into my father.
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