Hey guys. This is Brian Cho. I wrote this email recently in response to a bro that was graduating this year and felt uneasy about leaving college. This was just my take on life after college and my personal advice to a friend so take it for what it’s worth. Thought might as well share it with you guys since most of you guys will be graduating within the next 1-3 years.
Hey XXXX,
Hope you’ve been doing well and I can relate to what you are currently going through. I was at the exact same stage one year ago and especially had that sinking feeling in my stomach every time I thought about leaving UCI and finally becoming an adult for the first time. Leaving college behind to me felt like breaking up with the girl of my dreams after dating her for 4 years (okay maybe not as dramatic but you get the idea).
I feel that majority of the people straight out of college go through this quarter life crisis. I’ll be straight forward here and tell you that working life after college is nothing even comparable to college. More importantly, it was nothing like I thought it’d be. People always told me that that college is supposedly the best time of your life and I certainly can relate to that statement now. As a student, the only immediate things you really worry about are finals and how much you can live it up and party before your college life ticks away. You constantly meet new people, always seem to have free time, and you can practically do whatever you want really. I kissed that life good bye with my corporate entry level 8-5 life. In retrospect, college was almost too good to be true.
I learned after graduation though that life wasn’t what I thought it would be. I remember I thought I’d be the happiest person after I bought my dream car, got a desirable job and accomplished whatever I wanted to accomplish professionally. I remember during my first week at work, staring out on the top suite of a skyscraper hotel in downtown Chicago looking out the window at 2 AM feeling empty as sh*t (lost in translation style). I thought that this was everything I ever wanted as a college student but I felt really unhappy for some reason! I think over the course of 9 months I was at Deloitte or the corporate world in general, it really changed my perspective on life.
I don’t know if this applies to just Gen Ys or young adults in general but I felt like I was raised to have a more purpose driven life rather than just make a boat load of money and not be happy. So yeah, that’s why I left Deloitte to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. I gave up something that I worked towards for 4 years and decided to jump ship. Looking back, moving to SF and pursuing my dreams has probably been the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. I am ALOT happier than I was at Consulting and I actually love my job!
I have a strong conviction now that you should always pursue your dreams and passion. If you want to get into the XXXXX industry to become a XXXXX, why don’t you pursue something in the lines of that? I mean my ultimate dream job (if money / prestige / skill didn’t matter) was either become a NBA player, a teacher, fantasy basketball analyst, or movie / videogame producer. I know it sounds very idealistic and silly but I think that’s why most people complain that their dreams don’t come true after college and they’re stuck in a career they hate. I took a chance by leaving Deloitte against a lot of people’s advices and fortunately it was the right play. I knew that as a videogame producer I was more close to my “dream” than I would have ever been if I was in investment banking or something silly like that. So at least in my case, I don’t ever regret making that jump to follow my dreams.
You only live once and you practically spend more than half your living life working. Once you invest 3-4 years of experience into a certain career it’s also very hard to switch out unless you want to start all over again. Once you have family to support, mortgages to pay, you really won’t have the luxury of switching careers. You might as well try to find something that you love so you never have to work another day in your life right? I guess happiness is all perspective and that’s why I personally feel like it’s more so important to genuinely love what you do. I think if you passionately go after your dreams / passion in life and do whatever it takes to get there, you’ll realize that life after college isn’t so bad after all and there is a new happiness waiting for you around the corner. You start to appreciate free time, your friends, and also life in general a lot more. So maybe there’s nothing really to be afraid of?
Enjoy your last few weeks of college and look forward to a brighter future. You’re still only 22.
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