I Graduated... Now What?

For this inaugural post I hoped to have a more interesting anecdote to start it all off with, but being a 23 year old unemployed biology graduate living out of a friends house while searching for jobs and fantasizing about the life i could be leading does not bring any great impressive reference to mind...save one... "The Graduate".  The most immediate distinction between me and Ben, Dustin Hoffman from the graduate, being that I fully intend to go into the field in which i have been studying for the last 4+ years. Yet, here I still find myself arriving at the same conclusion that Ben did early in the movie.

The Graduate
Mr. Braddock: Would you mind telling me then what those four years of college were for? What was the point of all that hard work? 
Benjamin: You got me. 

Reality
Mr. Roberts: Would you mind telling me then what those four years of college were for? What was the point of all that hard work? 
Tyler: Well I want a job in Biology... where?...doing what?...You got me.


I guess I do have a general idea of what i want but from my perspective there are thousands of potential places to go from here and I have almost no real experience, therefore i feel unable to even make an educated guess about where i want to go.

"What can you do with a biology degree?"

• Be a Doctor
• Research
• Monitor
• Consult
• Conserve
• Teach
• Be a Naturalist Guide

Ok, thats a decent list and it still does not cover just how many options there really are.  For a long time I've know that biology is the field I want to be in and I think that being a guide specifically would be a dream come true. Research would be interesting and exciting but i do not envy those who spend hours toiling away trying to write papers, apply for grants and meet deadlines.  I would rather have an active job that has some direct influence i can witness.  


As I probe the depths of my inner conscience trying to piece together where i want my life to lead many questions keep bubbling to the surface.

Where do I begin?
What is my ideal job?
Where do I want to go?
What area of biology is most important to me?
Does it even matter what direction I take?

Those are a few of the more prominent ones but most of the doubts I have I can not articulate that well.  They are better described generally as feelings and senses that caste a shadow on every idea i have.   I am constantly playing my own devils advocate, but is it to my benefit or my detriment?  Im sure that  I am far to analytical about all of this decision making and that I simply need to go with my gut. However that is far easier said than done. I have spent my entire school career learning to be analytical and only using my gut as the last resort, most often on a multiple choice test in chemistry class.  Now when I need to call on my gut for direction I find that we are not on speaking terms anymore.  As a word of advice, use and listen to your gut... it may be smarter than your brain.


I guess the best thing I can do is to take aim, shoot, and hope that i hit the target.  However, with life being what it is I fully expect to ricochet more than once and head out on a course I never considered in the beginning.  This is both an exciting and daunting time for me, emphasis on the latter.