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Where do you want to get a job
when you graduate? Is the grass
greener on the other side?
For many of us, one of our first
acts as college graduates will be to
that a lot of us, who will get our
education in Nebraska, will also take
our talents to other states.
College students in this state give
a number of reasons why they want
to leave. Those of us who are
shortsighted, or maybe just ex
tremely climate sensitive, may point
to the weather as a primary concern.
But most of us can see past a few
flurries and through a few storm
clouds when looking to our future.
Other, more substantial, issues
then cone into view. The No. 1
reason students even come to college
today is to “make good money.”
Because of economic differences,
New York and Los Angeles profes
sional firms offer grads higher
starting salaries than local firms.
With today’s mentality, some good
students seem to be going to the
highest bidder. A second, related
factor is prestige.
_S—
This has to do with how other
people perceive us and how we
perceive ourselves. Name recogni
tion of our future employers makes a
big difference in how other people
will look at our successes.
General Motors, IBM and
Microsoft are unfortunately not
based in Nebraska. An out-of-state
relative is going to get a completely
____ttZ
Matt Haney/DN
different mental picture if we just
started a job at one of those corpora
tions as opposed to ConAgra.
I’m sure comparable entry level
jobs at these companies require the
same amount of intelligence and
talent, but the way these jobs are
perceived is completely different.
Many Nebraska college students
subscribe to the theory that a few
people in this country hold most of
the power and influence.
These people are not commonly
thought to reside in Nebraska.
Warren Buffet is the obvious
exception to this rule, but even
people such as Donald Trump and
Bril Gates get much more national
coverage than Mr. Buffet. This leads
us to believe they are the ones who
are taking the leadership role in this
country.
Another obstacle to settling
permanently in Nebraska is a
possible conflict of ideology. As
college students, a lot of our views
become more liberal as we are
exposed to other ways of looking at
issues. We are exposed to many
other people’s opinions and natu
rally try to use these other views to
improve our own. This tends to
conflict with the traditionally
conservative state of Nebraska.
I have three relatives who are
UNL alumni. Two have left the
state.
The Comhusker State will always
be a special place for me, but will I
be here after graduation? Will I be
enjoying the “good life” when I’m
30-something? «
There are a lot of things to
consider, and I still have a couple of
years to make that decision. Mark
me down as “undecided.”
Donley is a sophomore philoso
phy major and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
Jessica '
Card brings memories, new desire for change
‘ Over break 1 received a Christ
mas card from my great-aunt Betty
who wrote to tell me she liked my
column and that she was an old
woman who wore purple.
/\U U1U
woman who
wears purple... I
had to think
about it.
Apparently my
mother had sent
her a copy of a
column I wrote
last fall that was
based on the
poem “Warning.
Feeling a bit nostalgic, I dug
through my “DN” box and pulled
the column out for a quick read. The
whole premise of the poem (and
column) is the desire to grow young
as I grow old.
Young in the sense that I can cast
off die shackles of societal expecta
tions. Young enough to have fun
without worrying about daily
business. Young enough to explore
the world as jf I am seeing it for the *
first dme.
And as if I was reading the poem
for the first time, I was struck with
how much 1 wanted to be this
person. A woman who wears purple
' and a red hat “which doesn’t go and
doesn’t suit me” and makes up for
the “sobriety” of her youth by
wearing slippers in the rain, picking
the flowers in the other people’s
gardens and learning to spit.
Tbe most important message
| from Jenny Joseph's poem comes
«-—--—
Frankly, I’m not too concerned what
people would think if, in say forty years
or so, I suddenly turned my back on
propriety and adopted a fancy-free
lifestyle.”
. - - -4ir
from the last three lines:
“But maybe I ought to practice a
little now?
So people who know me are not
too shocked and surprised when
suddenly I am old, and start to wear
purple.”
and start to wear purple.”
Frankly, I’m not too concerned
what people would think if, in say
40 years or so, I suddenly turned my
back on propriety and adopted a
fancy-free lifestyle.
I am, however, worried that I
won’t be able to make such a
change. After 60 years of straight
laced, business-minded living, it’s
certainly not going to be easy to up
and-change my ways.
These lines are my challenge: I
must start practicing to live young
now. It’ll be too late when I’ve
grown old.
If there were ever a time to decide
to live “young”—it’s now. You and
I are sitting together in this precan
■
ous continuum. We’ve spent the last
several years struggling to push
youth back into the closet and trying
to be “all grown up.”
But what’s the rush? So many
“grown-ups” arc dour, bitter and full
of regret. It seems to me that they’ve
lost not die will to live (that’s a little
too deep, even for me), but the
sparkle in their eyes, the bounce in
their steps and the smile on their
faces.
have to lose my passion for life!
So today I begin to live my life of
youthfulness. 5
I’m going to start by trying to
take myself less seriously. That’s a
major task—ask anyone who
knows me. But it’s a necessary
adjustment. Seriousness interferes
with my creativity and my ability to
be spontaneous. I tend to analyze
more and {day less, instead of vice
versa.
Therefore I need to remember
that youthftilness is a state of mind
that 1 must commit to now. To be a
young woman who wears purple,
metaphorically speaking, requires a
complete perspective/attitude/
behavioral overhaul.
This cannot be some cosmetic
make-over.
I’m going to stand a little
straighter and send out an air of
confidence. I’m going to wear a
badge that says I love life.
I’m no longer sweating the little
stuff. I’m going to worry less and
relax more. After all, things happen.
Sometimes there’s nobody to blame
and sometimes you have to own up.
In my original column, I wrote
that I want to play on the swings
with my grandchildren — I can wait
for those—or skip down the street
should the mood overtake me. And I
want to start a think tank with my
friends. We will devote our energy to
solving the world’s problems all the
while enjoying the fresh-cut flowers
inr my dining room.
But I’ve come to the realization
that I can have these things now. By
waiting until I’m an old woman, I
will have wasted a lifetime of,
opportunities to be happy and#
fulfilled.
So, I’m cutting the driftwood out
of my life and focusing on feeling
free and being young.
And I’m going to start wearing
purple.
Kennedy Is n senior advertising
and broadcasting major and n
Daily Nebraskan columnist.
i pacK up ana
nx)ve. Why
| should we stay
1 in Nebraska?
| This may
I seem like a
I highly personal
I decision, but
■ many Nebras
| kans are worried
i about the fact
