#FirstSevenJobs shows why Georgetown’s stress culture is unnecessary

Georgetown’s stress culture is no secret. Lau is never empty, and a lot of students have the great “pleasure” of watching the sunrise from their library cubicle. Any upperclassman will tell you that they always feel the need to be busy. Every minute of free time is plagued with the question: what else could I be doing right now?

Georgetown’s stress culture is glaringly obvious on Georgetown Confessions, the beloved, anonymous Facebook page for undergraduate students.

While many of the posts involve missed chances for romance at Yates or failed weekend hook-ups, some posts are truly heartbreaking:

Confession #11622 reads:

“I can’t believe I’m ¾ done with Georgetown. It was such a mistake, I should not have come here. It isn’t what I want. I didn’t know any better when applying to schools and didn’t transfer because of the academic reputation. Everyone who doesn’t fit the Georgetown mental mold is either depressed and/or doped out.”

Confession #11564 reads:

“Dear seniors… Is freshman year supposed to be the most amazing year? Despite how happy I am for people that have declared how absolutely fantastic the past year was, I’m leaving campus this week not feeling nearly the same way, and I don’t feel comfortable saying that out loud to anyone I know. Things just didn’t go as planned…”

Confession #11055 reads:

“Do you ever have a crippling feeling that you will end up in the same job as your state school friends only in a lot more debt? Same.”

The pressure students feel (and the stress culture itself) comes from Georgetown students’ ambition and need for success after graduation. MSB students say they need a job lined up by junior year. A Congressional internship is essentially, to many, an unofficial graduation requirement. Some even kiss law school goodbye after receiving their first B in a class. Why are we doing this to ourselves?

Recently, the hashtag #FirstSevenJobs has surfaced on Facebook and Twitter, and it was pretty comforting in the midst of the pressure to achieve greatness before the age of 30. Many successful people posted a list of their first seven jobs, and more often than not, the job they are known for doesn’t make the list.

Before he wrote Tony-winning musicals, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer of Hamilton: An American Musical, worked the register at McDonald’s and wrote for a community paper.

Buzz Aldrin, an astronaut from the famous Apollo 11 lunar mission, started out as a dishwasher and had three more jobs before becoming an astronaut.

Stephen Colbert of The Late Show, a graduate of Dartmouth, had seven (or more) jobs, from construction to futon sales, before becoming a famous comedian. The list of people who found success after several mediocre jobs goes on and on. I’m now starting to worry we’ve limited our chances of success by chasing professional life so early.

We need reminders that not everyone gets it right the first time. Georgetown gives us an excellent education to begin our individual journeys, but we shouldn’t put so much pressure on ourselves to find great success straight away. Its sad to see real examples on Georgetown Confessions of Georgetown’s stressful, pre-professional culture making students so miserable.

Of course our student body will go on to do great things. Some people will do it five years from now, and others will do it in fifty. Hopefully as a Georgetown community, we can stop putting so much pressure on ourselves and enjoy our time on the Hilltop more.

We’ve all been there – I have cried in multiple buildings on campus, from the Hariri Building to Yates, stressing out about papers and exams. Failure seems closer than it really is, but from now on, I’ll check back on #FirstSevenJobs from time to time to remind myself that failure isn’t about not being successful, it’s about giving up.