Prompt: What Comes After

To get this first prompt started, I might as well tell you about myself since you might not know (unless you happen to be one of the many friends I intend to strong-arm into helping me out). My name is Jocelyn. I am 22 years old, a Scorpio, and when I'm old and retired in Florida will probably love long walks on the beach. I am originally from Ohio, but have transplanted myself to New York for college and have no plans to go back. I am an Anthropology and Writing double-major, and possibly the most indecisive student ever when it comes to figuring out what I want to do after I graduate.

Unfortunately for me and my indecision, graduation is rapidly approaching and I still have no solid plans for what comes after. Originally, the plan was grad school but that has been pushed back at least a year. I've already signed an apartment lease in Syracuse, so now I am left with finding a job within the city (which has proven difficult). And through it all, I keep getting the same question posed by relatives, friends, coworkers, and classmates: "What are your plans after graduation?"

It's like the perpetual "How was your break?" conversation that repeats itself for weeks until the next one rolls around. Everyone asks it, because it's the thing to do. Either that, or they are completely incapable of starting a meaningful conversation... anyway, the point is that for seniors, the dreaded question cannot be avoided. It's everywhere you go, prodding and poking at the nightmare that is what comes after graduation.

Maybe it doesn't bother you like it does me. Maybe you're one of those lucky seniors who has a job secured already, or a grad school to attend come Fall 2010. I envy those I meet who have a good answer to respond with, because it certainly must beat the hemming and hawing and on-the-spot fabrication I've become so good at. But I know that there are just as many out there like me, waking up in a cold sweat in utter terror at the nightmare of insecurity and unknown that lurks after May 16.

So, my first prompt asks: what will be happening to you after that Sunday, looming in the not-too-distant future, when we will no longer be undergraduates? Are you scared? Excited? Anxious to get it all over with? Why? Do you have any concrete plans, or are you only shaky in the comfort that you've got a bedroom/basement/closet in your parents' house to hide in?

Record your response, upload it (youtube and vimeo are good), and post as a comment to this entry. **Remember you can also email the video to me at jocember@gmail.com**