Anybody who has known me for more than a week can vouch for the fact I am not much for artificial concepts such as "the real world". I find these concepts to be a complete waste of time. I can understand why some might choose to use them, simply because it makes them feel better in reference to the future. At the same time I wonder have to wonder why choose to use it, because I feel it diminishes the accomplishments of the past and the "now".

    Back but five or six months ago the transition into this so called "real world" was all the rage among my classmates. It seemed to be the big topic of discussion, and basically the only thing any of my family wanted to talk about. During this whole time, all I could think of is why these people want to put off all of the things that I did during my educational years. It is clear that life after school is different than life in school, but what makes it any more real? To me the accomplishments of my School years seem rather impressive.  I made allot of friends, and wrote many pieces of software which function to this day gathering large amounts of money for the institutions using them.  Are these accomplishments not real?

    Terminology aside, it is all about the concept of moving on, and forming the ground floor of an independent life. Some choose to take a slow route, while others are forced into hastefully constructing some sort of foundation at an early age. As I continue to talk to my many friends and acquaintances, it becomes apparent the variety of ways in which people deal with the change. In some instances people have been forced to move far away from home into a seemingly hostile area with nobody to assist them. I was almost in this very situation myself as I grappled with the decision to move to Jamestown NY (Which I passed on BTW). Some move into areas which are distant from their homes, but have a support network of friends. Even others choose the make the transition at a slower pace, starting from home. All of these methods seem to work equally well, but I always find it interesting that there are so many different paths.

    However the category of moving on has so many more facets than just location. There are also the many paths you can take as far as relationships. Just the other day I received word that yet another of my High School friends was making the plunge into Marriage. This coming just days before the wedding of one of my College roommates, it seems that marriage is in the air. All the while these relationships are taking the next steps, the past few months has also seen the self-destruction of some relationships during the transition into this so-called real world.

    Then there is always the endless path of "where do I go from here!".  I don't know about you, but I just graduated from College, and I still have no idea what I want to do for a living.  Sure I make EXCELENT money writing computer software, but it is not honestly something I can see myself doing for the rest of my years on earth.  It just seems like such a waste of life to spend seven and a half hours a day at a keyboard writing computer software. There are days that I still dream about being a police officer, or an airline pilot.  I look at the colleges web site, and see all of the various majors that I could enroll in, free of course, and suffer as much indecision as I did when I was 16.  I applaud those who can say definitively that they want to go to graduate school for XYZ.  It takes more clout than I have.

    When I look at the many different ways that people have moved on, I am just forced to wonder just how I have moved on. So far since graduation I have moved to a new city, although the same one that I lived in during college. I have formed stronger friendships, however not with any new people, simply people I have known before my relocation. And I have started a new job, at a place that I already worked. At times like this I wonder if I have moved on at all, or if I am simply in a huge holding pattern waiting for some event to trigger change.

    Sometimes I just get lost in my own thoughts. Anyway, feel free to let me know your thoughts on the topic of Moving on, as it fascinates me to no end, if only I had the time to write something more coherent on the subject.

 ~ Kevin