Mortar-Bored

Waddaya know. The day has come. I am officially unemployed.

Yes, trust me to put it in such depressing terms. But on that day, I slipped into a state that can only be described as Dread. I have no answers why, especially since I saw all my peers being so full of glee. I even had to convince my best friend and boyfriend to go to the Viewing Gallery, where all they would see was a CCTV-ed image of the ceremony, and wait in the hope of being able to get admitted into the hall. Not a normally-Julia way of behaving, but I was not as confident and self-assured as I normally was. All I wanted, when I came out from the ceremony, was to have my close friends waiting for me.

And wait they did. With a bonus - food! Now that's what I call friends. They snuck out from before the rest, helped themselves to two platefuls of finger food, and presented themselves (and it) to me after the whole exercise in self-importance was over.

So, yes, having my friends there helped. It helped a lot. I'd arranged to meet them before the ceremony began, so that we could have our pictures taken together at leisure. As we went around, they trying to cajole me to take more pictures at that tree, that sculpture, me trying not to take pictures on my own, I started to have fun, despite myself. They made all the difference. For a while, I forgot about my woes of trying to find myself a decent job that was as fulfilling and rewarding (I blame MOE) as it was well-paying - yet at the same time not selling myself out to the highest-paying, money-grubbing multi-national organization (especially not one that is run on money from public, solicited donations, heaven forbid). Anyone could tell, such idealism is a recipe for a downward-spiralling depression. How on earth is one to find such a kind of job, without so much as even stepped into the working world proper? Sure, I've held a few temp jobs, but compared to some of my peers, the experience those have accorded to me are, to borrow and take out-of-context Mrs Goh's words, "peanuts".

But I digress. I had a good time, overall, at my graduation ceremony, thanks to my friends, even those who could not make it but who, I know, wanted to. Thanks so much, guys, for making my day a memorable one.