My Future

Generally, the first few questions out of anyone's mouth when I meet them here in Spain are these:
Hi, what's your name?
Where are you from?
What are you doing here?/What do you do?

The name and where I am from are usually short answers, unless someone is interested in which state, which city, what the city is like, etc. There are quite a few au pairs and English teachers in the area, but I am just a student, trying to make friends and enjoy my time here in Spain. Whenever I speak to people, I find myself striving to present myself well. Perhaps it is the somewhat aggressive American side in me...putting my best foot forward and being opportunistic, but maybe it's, well, still American-esque I suppose, me being egotistical.

I know that most people do not come to Spain and study for 2 years. Most students stay a semester, or maybe a semester and do an internship elsewhere, fewer stay the full year. It's a daunting task to take off for a whole year. Most (let's generalize, American) students don't expect to learn a whole lot while they're abroad in a country where they don't speak the language. It's more of a semi-vacation where they will go meet people, party, and hopefully do as well as they need to in the classes they have to take. Obviously, not everyone views it like that, and probably students studying things which would be more difficult to study firsthand in the US, such as architecture, art, or the language, take advantage of their time abroad. Many students just see it as one more thing to put on their resume, or it is a requirement for their major.

I am here for the long haul though... well, I hope. I am here to learn the language, learn about business, learn about Spanish culture. I want to make friends and have useful skills and knowledge gained by knowing these people here. If I am lucky, I may even find a few business connections through friends or just the magic of this beautiful world.

Two years sounds likes an eternity to me some days, but I really hope it sounds like an eternity to the people whom I tell about my educational goals. I need their awe. We are in some messy times, and I need to see the gleam in someone's eye of desire for such an opportunity, or the shock that takes someone aback a little. It gives me hope that I am going to be alright in 2 years when I leave this place.

Everyone talks about the crappy state of things in Spain. The high unemployment and the difficulties people are facing. Similar things are going on in the United States. I have heard so many kids my age talk about parents losing jobs, or preparing for pay cuts and the things they are doing to help prepare themselves for the changes that may affect their families. As much as I could drone on about the ungrateful children of America who want their iPhones and their iPads too, there are plenty of good kids, who are aware of how the economy is affecting them. Not only are parents losing what they had though, but young people... people my age, are finding jobs harder and harder to come by.


How many years of experience do you want me to have to work where? Getting a job waiting tables is practically a joke if you haven't been doing it since you were 16. Hundreds of people are applying for one opening. Employees are actually doing their jobs since they might not be able to get another one if they're fired. The game has changed. Timing is crucial, and having connections is as well.

I am terrified about what I'm going to encounter once I return home from Spain. What if my degree proves to be as worthless as those of the kids still working at the grocery stores in the states? Where's my upward mobility there? Why would I really want to do that? Hell, you never know... maybe it really does lead to a successful career, where I don't just place people's food in plastic bags and stock shelves all day. I'm not sure I have the motivation nor patience to actively pursue higher levels of employment from such a lifeless job. Those intermediary steps before I got there would most likely destroy any ambition I once had.

Who knows? In a world with fewer options, you really just have to make the best of things. I believe I will be capable of sustaining a decent life and be a useful employee to whoever hires me, but I would love to be ecstatic about my job. I want to come to work and do cool stuff. I want a job where I can talk about what I'm working on with family members and friends and be excited. Maybe I'll bore them to death with my stories, but it'd be better than whining about my pathetic life or only having humdrum stories about interactions with customers and co-workers.

Put me to the test, boss! I can do it.

I'm young... maybe this isn't how I should view it.

The best hope is that this fear really drives me to make it in life.

One of the great things about my time in Spain so far is all the entrepreneurs whom I have met. Language schools, architecture company, messenger service, solar energy... people are investing and creating these businesses. It's awesome, and a bit inspiring. Some of them are well established, others are just starting up, ones which I have only heard of due to knowing these wonderful people. No matter what stage, there is so much to learn by chatting with these folks: their fears, the problems they run into, seeing the hours they work, how rewarding it seems to be.

Even though one of my self-employed friends has told me that there are not that many Spanish entrepreneurs, I have found the Spanish school system to be much more conducive to learning how to create a business. Maybe it's just my university back home which leaves learning how to create a business for those specializing in entrepreneurship, but now that I'm learning, I wish they did teach us more in at my home uni. I honestly didn't realize what goes into creating a business. They teach us here about the different kinds of businesses, the legalities behind if you chose option A, B, or C. How much money is required to start a business, how to choose a name and register it here in Spain... I have learned about the kinds of presentations people give to try and get investors. There has been so much more knowledge instilled in me over the course of this semester by both the university and my friends which I hope will prove to be extremely beneficial.

I won't ramble on too much more, but I do hope that at some point I at least come up with a few ideas of what kind of business I would like to create if I ever do. Maybe since I have such great doubts in the world around me and my prospects for a future in the world as it is, means that I need to do some building on my own and create a new avenue for myself.

We'll see where life takes me.