Thursday, September 17, 2009

A step outside of my box

Joining a sorority is like having 50 friends with similar interests, lifestyles, goals and values presented to you on a platter. You may not like everybody but are bound to find some lifelong friendships and a full-time support system throughout college.

Maybe that’s why I found myself wondering what to do with myself when my roomies, due to their demanding schedules, started staying in to study on weekends. Not one weekend, every weekend.

Don’t get me wrong, it’d be one thing if I had a book I could bury my face into, but seeing as how I’m not in school and have no outside work, I truly have no reason to be sitting around on Friday and Saturday nights, especially when they can’t even socialize.

After some thought I realized it’s because of habits I formed in college. When you’re living with 80 (and even seven) girls it’s not a matter of finding something to do, it’s choosing which activity you’d like to do, with which friends. You don’t have to go looking for opportunities, they present themselves to you. And quite frankly, you get lazy.

The real world is different.

Of course there are factors that are affecting my situation. Before you go thinking "Wow, Julie's a loser" , I need to defend myself and say I've found things to do every weekend. It's just harder to find. Or perhaps I crave it more. After sitting in a cubicle all day doing a job I'm not particularly passionate about it's nice to have something to look forward to at the end of the week.
Some other factors: I work in an office full of seven people all 30 years or older. My roommates are both hardcore studiers in med school. My friends are scattered all over Kansas. (Yes, I consider you OPers “scattered” because it’s still 25 minutes away which seems so far!)

In other words, you can no longer have the luxury of waiting for the night’s plans to formulate and fall into your lap.
College is officially over.

However, I’ve chosen to look at this as a positive opportunity for me to grow.

Long story made short, making friends without the “college cushion” requires confidence, effort and an open-mind. And after being forced to find things to do and meet new people I feel like I’ve grown a lot in this area.

This week I’ve joined/looked into various area “young professionals” type societies/ organizations having to do with career goals, philanthropy, ect., which I explain in more detail later. Gulp. That means that before I make the friends and build the network I’m hoping to make (and I’d be lying if I were to say it’s not a resume builder as well) , I will be attending these dinners/ lectures/ luncheons/ ....alone.
Alone? With 27 and 28 year olds?! Eek.

But, at the same time, it's about time.
So I'm doing it. Updates to follow later.

2 comments:

  1. There is no doubt in my mind that you'll have interesting stories from this! Sounds like a really cool idea though and maybe you'll meet some contacts and new friends. I'm like the worst networker in the world, it scares me! Keep us updated on it all!

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  2. Have you considered GenKC? They're a pretty well-known group that tries to get young people involved. I've heard good things!
    Also, you should plan a long weekend in NY :)

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