The Grievances of the Modern American 9-5

It all starts since the beginning of your education, you hear about this idea of college and a degree and how it can only propel you in the right direction. You will be the front runner in a marathon towards to land of opportunity and security. What you do not realize is that as times have changed and continue to change, corporations and specifically the typical 9-5 culture has evolved, you might not feel the security you were hoping to feel.

Us Millennial, as I qualify as one, seek security. We witnessed many of our family members and friend's parents lose jobs in a massive sweep at one point. We have felt unsafe since during our developmental years, we may not have recognized 9/11 in it's entirety and severity, but we felt lost, concerned, and afraid. We seek security in a campus, dorm, club, job, or membership somewhere during our later developmental years. For many of us, college was deep-throated down onto us more than anyone is willing to admit. If you went to college, congrats you will do well.

Graduating from college has left me with unemployment.

Graduating from college has left me with severe anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Graduating from college has left me feeling validated by the checkbox. Degree, check. Full-time job, check.

Did this full-time job turn out to be exactly what I wanted? I figured a full-time job would give opportunity to grow as a human being, a co-worker and be able to start enjoying things in life, since many of my years in college were spent either working or studying.

Before I begin to discuss the common 9-5...let me discuss the process.

350+ job applications

25+ job interviews

Being constantly told I wouldn't be a good fit. Or, that I didn't seem to have enough experience in anything that I am not trainable. And, to be fair, why would I be after college? I had to work when I was in school. I didn't have time to make stellar grades or get the most intense internship. I had time for school, to make a bit of money, and scrape by with the rest. Unfortunately, the situation that many of my peers and I find ourselves in, we had to accept something that came our way to check off the check box.

Got the summer internship before my senior year of college, check.

Got the internship whilst in school, check.

Got ANOTHER internship for my final semester of school, check.

Once I had graduated with two bachelor of arts in four years and the start of a Master of Arts, you can imagine that I felt as if all of the boxes were check and I was good to go to be successful.

False.

I got my first full-time job offer six months after graduating college. Which, might seem typical but isn't that sad. I accepted my first full-time job offer because, well, I had too. It was the first opportunity that came along. It ended up being one of the most hostile and worst working environments possible.

I mean, it is an agency.

However, underpaid, overworked, mental health deterioration...all part of the grand scheme of things to landing something better, right? Is that the way it is supposed to go? Is it questioning your self worth because God knows your job doesn't value you? Is it, questioning everything on your path because you have checked the boxes.

You checked the boxes...things should be working in your favor, right?\

No, instead you are working over-time with no additional compensation and no appreciation along with having to beg your employer for not only your tax forms but to also start collecting insurance.

Benefits is another topic of conversation for another time...

However, is this really where was I supposed to land? I am not sure how much harder I could've worked while in school. Am I having to pay off some karmic debt I didn't realize I accumulated over the years?

No. It is not this at all. This is the grievance of the modern American 9-5. It look's like landing in almost the 20% tax bracket but not making over $45,000 a year, one salaried job with one second job. It looks like Ativan prescriptions or an onset alcoholism. It looks like obsession over security, from friends and relationships.

It is not avocado on toast with brunch every Sunday.

It is not vacationing on student loans. It is watching everyone else around you go on trips while you dream of budgeting something in for yourself, even if it is paying a bill early.

It is never feeling good enough or worthwhile. Because, when you try to leave your first hostile work environment after six months of consecutive employment, the only job interview you recieve is an internship position. After going from an intern, to a college graduate, to a salaried employee, you might just be forced to go back to an internship.

To check off one more box...

That is the grievance of the modern American 9-5. When you try to do better for yourself, the doors that were supposed to open up for all the sudden become shut and that the map to the land of opportunity gets lost.

We still say, even exhausted at our second jobs, "Living the American Dream."