I played by the rules… so now what?…

I am humbled by where I sit.

I’m in the last class of my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. I’ve just taken the standardized exit exam. I thought this would be it – the beginning of a new career in business – a new career. Empowered, a woman of corporate business.

Instead, it’s a bit anti-climactic.

I love how the “situation of the millennial generation” was put in an article shared with me through social media recently:

“We’re not a slacker generation, nor are we politically naïve: We were born into the fast-paced optimism of the money-happy ’80s and ’90s, only to come of age as a drawn-out, indefensible war and crippling financial crisis . . . In this world they’ve left us with, we’re not sharing shabby apartments and living on coffee-shop tips out of some blithe desire to experiment. . . . What we’re experiencing now isn’t rebellion, it’s reality — just not the reality we thought we’d be rewarded with for playing by the rules.”

It hits the nail on the head. I’ve played by the rules. I did community service, joined clubs and teams, and attained a GPA above 4.0 in high school. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from University, and now I will graduate with grades equal to Summa Cum Laude, the highest honor, for my Master’s. Yet there is no new corporate job waiting for me. I will still be working at home, for myself, making our second income off of hourly pay. Do I love it? Yes. Is it what the world expects from a Master’s level education? Probably not. The quote below explains why.

Morrigan McCarthy, mentioned in the article quoted above, is part of a project called Geography of Youth that has spent two years touring the world, documenting the opinions and lives of the millennial generation.

“In general [millennials are] much more interested in experience over material good,” McCarthy says. “That’s something that’s much easier to achieve in this economy, in this world we live in. Subconsciously we know we’re not going to be able to do what our parents’ generation did.”

Or, as another source from the article, Niel Howe, put it:

“[Millennials] look at the house their parents live in and say, ‘I could work for 100 years and I couldn’t afford this place.’”

My parents will be congratulating me on my graduation this weekend. My grandparents are flying out from the Bay Area just to see me walk. I love making them proud. I just hope they’ll understand where I’m headed next – back to the home office, and then on to the mission field. For me it’s the experience of my life, and what I can do to serve God, that will make me happy and fulfilled. And thank goodness for that; because I’m a millennial.

(Quotes from Grist’s article “Millennial medium chill: What the screwed generation can teach us about happiness” By Claire Thompson)

 Category: About Us, The Journey      Tagged: , , , , , , ,

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