The above cartoon does not bode well for me. Journalism as we know it is dying. Or maybe it's just changing. Either way, jobs - and I mean real jobs with a regular paycheque and maybe even benefits - are few and far between. This does not bode well for me.
Sometime in 2009, I will finish my Bachelor of Arts degree - I think ... I hope. Kind of.
I'm currently in the second semester of the fourth year of my degree, majoring in political science with a minor in professional writing (aka journalism). Come April, I'll have five classes left to complete, mostly electives, which should allow me to finish in either August or December, depending on a) what I end up doing for work this summer, and b) my own laziness. I can't wait to be down with classes and papers and paying for tuition and books.
But at the same time, I'm terrified of what life post-university may hold. I'm starting my career, likely moving out of the city I've called home for the last four years, which means moving out of the house I share with some of my very best friends. Yeah, sure, it's exciting. But not knowing where I'm going to live, what I'll be doing to pay my bills and who'll be there to make me smile is enough to (literally) give me a panic attack. The future has gone from being an exciting adventure to this big, blurry unknown that keeps me up at night.
For me, graduating and leaving UVic is losing neverland, this fantastic world I've been living in where I get to be who I want and pursue my dreams, but live with no real sense of responsibility beyond just getting by. And I don't know if I'm ready to leave - or if I'll ever be ready, for that matter.
That's what Losing Neverland is all about, trying to quell the fears I have surrounding my future, or sometimes, just getting them off of my chest. I'm looking for proof that I'm going to be okay after university, that despite my worst fears, my world is not about to crash down around me. In fact, I'm hoping to find that this really is just the beginning.
'Cause right now, I'm in trouble. I don't wanna grow up.
