The voice of De Anza since 1967.

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The voice of De Anza since 1967.

La Voz News

The voice of De Anza since 1967.

La Voz News

Expectations and Aspirations

Reality 110

Welcome back to school and to reality. Back to balancing academics, employment and an ever-dwindling social life. Back to friends who you don’t necessarily like, but tolerate because you see them twice a week. Back to the cynicism that the impending stress of the next 12 weeks will be present in every interaction with your peers. Welcome back to Reality 110.

I can’t honestly say that I’m glad to be back in school. I was perfectly content with staying in bed until noon, compulsively watching torrented episodes of Dragon Ball Z and drinking atrocious amounts of single-malt scotch. But that magical fleeting freedom was short-lived. Now it’s gone, and I didn’t even get the chance to realize I was having the time of my life.  

That being said, at least being in school gives us the opportunity to feel productive, right? There’s the GPA we strive so hard to keep afloat in the shallow water of procrastination and underachievement. There are goals we set and visions we establish to ensure that we get the job, buy the house, raise the family and die happy. It’s the contemporary American dream – to work hard for your entire life and to have your efforts pay out like a rigged slot machine.

This light speed lifestyle appeals to the ambitious and motivated, who adoringly dream of their own utopia and have the initiative to devote their every decision to making this dream a reality. I applaud these people. I envy them. I can’t for the life of me maintain that kind of focus or discipline, so I’ve got to give them credit. 

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The major flaw in the go-getter attitude is that it is based on societal expectations. We are constantly told what we want, whether it’s a stable career or a three bedroom house. How many times have we heard that we “have” to get a job or that we “have” to settle down? It’s unfortunate that we are expected to oblige to all expectations, being forced to conform to a standardized reality. 

Not all of us want to be in the country’s top income bracket. Some of us are destined to happily live in dire poverty, working menial jobs, eating TV dinners and listening to Dinosaur Jr. This demographic is not the majority, and is frequently berated by driven individuals, perceived as motivation to keep pushing their careers forward. The decisions of your adolescence will dictate your place on society’s food chain. You might end up starving while owning an extensive collection of meaningful music and literature. You might end up with a nuclear family, a Ph.D. from Berkeley and a hefty retirement fund. It depends on personal expectations, even if the expectations are influenced by society’s image of success.

I see these people, give their reality a jaded middle finger and promise myself that I’m going to dictate my choices based on what I want, not what is expected of me. 

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