Keeping it REAL

Easily. College, you see, is not really about preparing you for the job market. It’s about gaining the knowledge and skills you need to seize opportunities — and that includes knowing when to walk away from something that makes you unhappy.

There’s a lot of talk these days — well, all days, I suppose — about what good it is to get a liberal arts degree, what majors are most likely to lead to the best-paid and most stable careers, and the importance of building your resume while you’re in school so that you have an edge when it’s time to enter the almighty job race.

That’s all true, mostly. Obviously, you have to eat. But maybe the goal of college shouldn’t be so closely linked to employment. Actual life isn’t that different from the game of Life, in the sense that there’s a point where at the start we all have to choose the college path or the career path. You can earn the same money either way, and the same good (or bad) spins on the dial can send you into a tailspin of debt or misery: illness, accidents, divorce, tornadoes taking your house. College is no guarantee that you’ll be rich, or even middle class. In fact, there are some arguments that suggest technical training is a better bang for the buck.

College, if you’re lucky enough to get there, is really about figuring out your friends and your values as well as your dreams for the future. Nobody — well, almost nobody — finds a top-paying position right out of college. Most of us have to pay our dues and climb a dozen different career ladders before we find one that has rungs we can reach — and a place at the top with a view that suits us. If you land that seemingly “perfect” job with a salary worth boasting about, but then you hate it and are afraid to quit, your wings are clipped. That “safe” job will kill your creativity, drown your enthusiasm, and smother your ability to get up in the morning with a bounce in your step. Why stay?

The answer most people give is “fear.” We’ve all heard the unemployment statistics.

But let’s turn those around. The unemployment rate is high — even upwards of 12 percent in certain U.S. cities. But that means that 88 percent of people have jobs. Can they make a living on their wages? That depends on how you define a “living.” Maybe you don’t need a new car, or a car at all. Maybe you can find a seasonal rental or roommates.

Jobs are like college courses. Each one you take teaches you a set of new skills and offers a fresh perspective on life. They aren’t meant to be permanent, most of them. They are only stepping stones.

Life is good.

When you quit a job, any job, it can be terrifying. But it’s also exhilarating, as you open yourself to new possibilities. So go ahead. Take the risk. Quit that job, if you hate it. You might surprise yourself.