GUEST COLUMN: Dreaming of a Job

I was prepared for the unexpected. I had done all my homework. I had read and researched, probed my soul for the most profound of answers to the most inane of questions. If I were a fruit, an historic monument, an antique piece of furniture, what would I be and why? I had tackled every last conversational obstacle and was now prepared to simply glide through my first job interview. And yet, I was caught off guard when the tailored suit sitting across from me inquired with a smile, "So tell me Jess, what's your dream job?" My first thought was to recall the long list of youthful ambitions I had once so avidly dreamed of. As a child, I had imagined myself a Broadway singer one day, a professional tennis player the next, a race-car driver, a pilot, an astronaut! But slowly, these glorious expectations of stardom and success were forced to the back of my mind, replaced by term papers, SATs and college applications. For a long while, I stopped envisioning the importance of discovering my "dream job." I was happy preoccupying my time with the more immediate concerns of getting into the best college and finding the right date for my senior prom. But now, as a senior in college, the question seems to arise once again with a new sense of confusion and importance. When I first began to really think about what would be my "dream job," I found myself coming up with a long list of general characteristics and ideals rather than one or two specific professions or institutions. As I tried to resolve this conflict, I came upon the most liberating discovery, one which I plan to carry with me into my hectic and stressful senior year. I have finally recognized the impossibility of searching for a "dream job." I do not mean to imply that one cannot love his or her job or that one must get up each morning dreading the work day ahead. As I said before, my realization was a liberating, if not an empowering idea. I only wish to expand on the evident and important distinction which exists between "dreams" and "jobs." For most of us, a "dream" is something which exists in its most elementary and aesthetic form. It is something which embodies ultimate fulfillment, excitement, passion and pleasure. A dream is never discouraged, restricted, or transformed. A dream occurs when we close our eyes and open up our hearts. Whether we chose to introduce our dreams into a demanding and competitive reality is our own personal choice. But we all do dream. A "job," on the other hand, is something which must, in some ways, conform to the expectations of the external world, be them economic or personal. A job is never without rules, regulations, expectations or responsibilities. A job requires maturity and insight. A job is a collective effort towards a common goal. A job is hard work. I have a hope that one day the two separate ideas of a "dream" and a "job" may merge into one clear image, but for now I think that it is important for us to recognize the distinction and not to expect, one, two, three years out of college, that we will simply encounter an ideal occupational state where we find ourselves each and every moment loving our job, our boss or our salary. The key to happiness lies in encouraging the development of our dreams in a completely separate realm -- one without rigid schedules, dress codes, or bureaucratic red tape. As each day passes and we all approach the not-so-fun grown-up world which lies ahead of us, we cannot forget to keep dreaming, be it melodically singing in the shower, triumphantly running up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art or watching a brilliant sunset over the roof of a Spruce Street apartment building. While the question still hung on the tip of my tongue, the woman holding my future in her hands rested her elbows gently next to the paper clips on her desk. "My dream job?" I began, "You realize that I cannot answer that, oh distinguished justice of my fate, for I do not dream of jobs. My dreams are too passionate to confine themselves to a nine-to-five work day." Well?I didn't actually say that. But who knows if such dreamy words of wisdom would have still gotten me the job?