The Weekly Newspaper of Inglewood
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 70, No. 24 - June 17, 2021
New Mural Brings Positive Message to Inglewood
Alfonso Garcia, the mural artist, created a beautiful message of hope from a Matin Luther King Jr. quote. In these trying times, it is always nice to be reminded that we are all one. Photo courtesy Crenshaw Imperial Plaza.
Your Neighborhood Therapist
Dear Neighborhood Therapist,
I have just graduated from college and now
I’m expected to embark on a “career.” I did
some internships, and I did well, but I cannot
seem to muster that passion for the business
I was in that some of my colleagues do. It’s
not that I mind paying my dues or working
hard. It’s that I look at the people who are
mid-career and I think, “I don’t want to do
that.” I don’t want to spend the next 15 years
of my life dedicated to this work just so that
I can get to where they are, which is a place
I don’t want to be. It doesn’t seem worth it
to me, and it’s incredibly depressing.
– Frustrated Recent Grad
Dear Frustrated Recent Grad,
I’m sure there is a school of thought that
would say, “Hey, it’s rough out there. Life
isn’t easy. Toughen up and get used to it.” The
thinking behind this is most likely something
like, “Sure, it stinks, but it stinks for all of
us, so don’t think you are better than anyone
else, or special.”
I don’t think that’s a very helpful sentiment.
It’s like saying that because kids get too
much vacation, adults should be happy they
don’t get enough. Of course you’re not better
than anyone else, but you don’t have to
like our system, which is roughly like this:
In school, we see continual progress. All you
have to do is pass and you are “promoted”
to the next grade. The grade levels keep
going up, and then you have a big celebration.
(And we should celebrate. School is
hard. It’s a big achievement to get through
it.) But while everyone who passes gets to
graduate, not everyone who does their job
well gets to constantly move up and eventually
be CEO. Of course not everyone is
going to get promoted, so competition heats
up. There just isn’t room for everyone at the
top of any organization, and so many people
compete for it.
Why we protect our kids from the “real
world” until we toss them head first into it is
a topic for another time, but there is no question
that the transition from the academic to
the working world can cause real whiplash.
Especially if you think you may have been
condemned to years of misery in a profession
you can’t stand, it does truly feel like losing
a lot of freedom. So how do you avoid this
fate if you don’t even know what you “want”
yet out of your working life?
First, give yourself some more time. Just
because you haven’t seen a job that appeals
to you doesn’t mean a good life doesn’t exist.
You may not have been exposed to people who
share your concerns, so how could you expect
to have figured it out yet all on your own?
In the meantime, do something - anything -
that helps provide a service that people need
or enjoy.. Maybe it’s picking up trash. Maybe
it’s selling warm bread in the morning, or
See Therapist, page 6
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