Rejected Essay.

Where once we dreamt in vibrancy, we now pray for stillness and quiet. WHere once the world held infinite possibilities, we see the path before us growing clearer with every step. We are bound by every choice we’ve ever made and the illusion of greatness fed to young, eager minds bubbles and tears in the flame of reality. We slip passively into this dulling of our youthful ambitions. Our plans to conquer the world, explore every crevice and achieve the ehights we imagined. Some of us, anyway.

The rest of us glower at our oncoming futures with the stubborn persistence of a toddler three steps from a tantrum. We will not peacefully hand over our ambition. We will not silently join the ranks of morning commuters. No. We will insist until the last possible moment that we are exempt. We are special. We are Going To Be Something. We watch our friends go off to college, then careers. All the while, we insist we are still immune. We are still free, and nothing will ever cage us. We bounce from job to job, with little icnrease in pay or position. Our friends are buying cars and buying housrs and we’re still arguing with the apartment office whether they can fix the A/C on a Saturday.

Then one day it starts to creep up on us. We get irritated at coworkers who don’t take their jobs seriously. We start working towrads promotions and raises and more responsibility. We start looking for better jobs, different opportunities, and we might even find a few. And then there is that unavoidable roadblock: “All applicants must have a 4-year degree.”

In the end, there’s no real way around it. That rather expensive piece of paper opens the door to better career opportunities, quicker promotions, bigger raises and the chance to achieve the highest success possible. Yes, you also pick up some extra knowledge on the way, a few good tips and habit. Maybe even some connections if you work at it a little. We, the stubborn Peter Pans of our respective generations, gradually accept this. We trade in pixie dust and pirates for textbooks and deadlines and begin the long, slow journey to bettering ourselves.

~ by Xan on Sunday. 22. April. 2007..