Trepidations

So, I have less than three months before I get my BA. And I have no fucking clue what I'm going to do after that. It's kind really scary. But also liberating. I have ideas of what I'd like to do, but I'm still in the dark as far as what I actually will do. In the best case scenario, I'd find a cheap place to live in Arcata (or Eureka if I really have to) and a job working for some local non-profit group like Democracy Unlimited, Green Wheels, Humboldt Domestic Violence Services, North Coast Rape Crisis Team, or something along those lines. Of course, the likelihood of that seems incredibly slim. I've been considering trying to get a local job with Americorps, but those don't start till fall, so I'd be possibly without a job over the summer, which is when I'll need one the most, as I won't have that much money to pay for my own place. And my mom keeps talking about how important it will be to not have a break in my health care (which ends when I'm not a student unless I pay a whole lot), otherwise any new health care I get through a job will not pay for pre-existing conditions or something like that. Then again, the real question is, do I really care? I plan on very likely going through many periods of unemployment through my life so that I can go on epic traveling adventures, live off the land, and do activism and such, and I probably won't have health care then. I love how our culture finds ways of trapping us into a life of constant employment and misery. And I'm still assuming I'll be able to find any sort of job in Humboldt to begin with. This place has a horrible job market. I recently found out that one of my former suite mates from the dorms, who graduated last year with a degree in sociology still hasn't found a job up here. If something like that happens, I might very well have to move back to Sacramento, probably with my mom for a while until I can get established. And even there, I doubt I'll find a great job. I'm thinking of maybe trying to go to Portland, but I've never even been there, and I have no idea how the job market is (I've heard it's not great, but I've also heard rent is cheap). Today, my former supervisor from the ESL center in Sacramento that I used to tutor at suggested I might want to get a job as an overseas ESL instructor. I looked into it a bit. I'm definitely qualified, and the jobs I looked at all seem to pay fairly well, and include free housing, a free ticket to and from the country, some level of health care, a decent amount of paid vacation, and even a stipend of one month's salary at the end of the (typically 12 month) commitment. I could definitely see myself doing something like that. But it would still only delay the inevitable need to get a "real" job eventually that I can settle down in (if I even want that). Americorps would be a similar issue. All these things are constantly in my head, floating around and worrying me. I can't wait to get out of school, but I'm really nervous about leaving the security it offers.