Yes We Can!

So the other day I was on Facebook (be still my beating heart), talking to a friend back home. It would seem that there is one thing on everybody's minds if they have recently graduated, and that would be: so, what the hell do I do now? Every conversation I have is geared around this subject - jobs, places to live, money-woes, etc etc - and every time the conversation seems to end the same: the person on their computer at the other end eventually resigns themselves to the fact that the job market sucks, money makes the world go round and chasing dreams is harder than they originally anticipated.

I'll be one of the first to agree. The job market does suck, money does make the world go round and chasing dreams is hard. But, when I was talking to my friend, I kind of got the impression that what was really missing was the attitude. Obviously not everybody gets the good graces of being extremely fortunate and having a job/pretty partner/nice flat (delete where applicable) land in their lap, but doesn't it all sort of boil down to how far you are prepared to go in order to get what you want? Sitting on a computer applying for jobs does - and I want to stress this - NOT count as 'trying really hard'. If you are slaving away day after day, handing in applications, emailing countless companies, knocking on doors, calling people up and you STILL come away with nothing months later, then yes, fate perhaps is not on your side. Fate may even be trying to tell you something. But until you try that hard, you will never know. The 'I can't' attitude that a lot of people seem to have is truly uninspiring.

Let's have a look at some case studies to highlight my point, shall we?

Internships & Work Experience. Yes, a sad fact about a lot of industries is that they employ a Catch-22 type mantra. 'We can't employ you unless you have experience'. Oh, is that so? Well how the fuck am I supposed to get experience when nobody will hire me? Cue shrug of the shoulders from said employer. Oh well, how helpful. Working for free is never anybody's idea of success, but it is one of the easiest things to score. I know a fair few people whose experience has proved invaluable. When I met with the editor of Time Out Sydney (who, at best guess, it around 31. The Art Director is 26 and used to have his own studio. So there) about my work experience, he told me he had done the same thing when he travelled and that, no matter what people tell you, it really and truly does help. Sometimes I find myself sitting in that office, writing up another press release in a manner that is probably a touch too overenthusiastic in nature, and think 'What the hell am I doing?'. My eyes are turning into Mac-shaped hollows and I feel like a twat anytime I attempt at writing upbeat stories about upbeat events like World Guinness Day or the World's Funniest Island. Such is life, and such is work experience.

Saving up cash. Ah yes, that old chestnut. It's never easy. Ever. When I was selling my soul to a devil that went by the name of Lloyd, I tried to tell myself it was all worth it - the 6am finishes, coming home smelling like stale alcohol and a mood that meant I had a constant expression that read 'Fuck Off'. In capitals. I know that everybody would like to save money fast and doing something that actually isn't all that bad. Whether it's saving to move out or to buy something you really really want or to travel or whatever it is, we all want to do it quick and easy. Right now, I am trying so hard to save money for Western Australia. But this really bizarre thing keeps happening. My money comes in the bank and then, as if by magic, it seems to disappear straight out again. As if there is some mean wizard living inside St George that zaps my money clean away as soon as I get it. Saving money means that life isn't as fun as you want: you can't buy stuff, you can't go out and get fucked on cocktails in Kings Cross every night, and you can't spend money without thinking 'Shit, my weekly budget' or something equally as shit. But! If you want to save money, there is a quick and easy solution: DON'T BUY STUFF. Don't go out as much, do do shitty jobs even if you hate them. The next four, five, even six, months may be shit, but think about the long-term. Think about how amazingly worth it it will be in the end, when you have that shiny new posession in your hand; when you're sitting in a place called home that isn't owned by Mum and Dad, when you're sat on a long-haul flight to fuck knows where. I did it, I hated every second of saving, but it was so, so, so worth it.

I realise I'm probably coming off like a jerk. Like, 'oh, listen to her, sat in Australia, preaching about how easy it all is'. No, not really. It isn't easy and I do get it. After every time someone doesn't call you back or after every time you check your bank balance, the heart does that weird thing where it falls to the pit of your stomach and refuses to nudge. Been there. I was there precisely yesterday, in fact, when I paid my rent and realised my saving plan isn't going so well. But I know what needs to be done. There's only one person who can get off their arse and solve the problem and that person begins with a capital M and ends in a lower case e. I have been maxed out and crawled my way out of student-finance hell to save enough to go to Australia. That is probably one of the things I am most proud of about being over here. That I did it. Yay. Woo, Hurrah.

And I will always look back and think, it was because I knew I could. It's cheesy and rubbish and lame, but whatever happened to a can-do attitude? Whatever happened to being positive, even in the face of adversity? Even when it seems like the sky is raining pure dogshit on you, whatever happened to brushing yourself off and trying again? When the conversation between me and my friend was wrapping up, he said 'Well, I admire your can-do attitude' with his countering 'can-not' attitude more than obvious, even 17,000km away, on the other side of the world, penetrating through time zones and the world wide web. I came off the computer furious. Don't admire it, adopt it. And thank me with money and gifts later down the line, when it will undoubtedly pay off.