By Gavin Mendoza
Senior Reporter
Growing up and realizing a dream job such as being an astronaut, professional athlete or even a doctor for some people is not realistic can be hard to understand and grasp.
T.W. Beiswanger, a grad student at Oklahoma State University, said his aspirations were always to be a professional athlete.
“I played all kinds of sports growing up so just playing anything professionally was a dream of mine from a young age,” Beiswanger said.
Now after graduating from Northwestern and finishing his playing career, the transition to just school and focusing on finding a job after he receives his master’s degree has been a good but difficult process.
“I would be lying if I said I haven’t felt lost in this whole process,” Beiswanger said. “The fact is that it is my first year in graduate school and my first time not being a student-athlete. It is been a learning process especially being at a brand-new school in a new town, but luckily, I have great support around me and people that are here to help my process become smoother.”
Not reaching dreams can be scary, but Beiswanger has been thankful for the process and would tell his younger self to trust the process.
“I would tell him to not be afraid to ask people for help and to reach out to people that have been through what you are going through,”
Beiswanger said. “I would also tell my younger self to not worry, that everything is going to be fine, and to keep going.”
“Only 7 percent of respondents say they have and are currently in their dream job,” said The Prince’s Trust in an article researching how dream jobs have been put on hold and are being found less.
The first few years after college when graduates are looking for a job is a significant transition that often brings anxiety, uncertainty, and, at times, social isolation as explained in an article by Cole Clayborn in the U.S. News and Written Reports.
In the same article a study was done by Amanda Fialk, a partner and chief clinical officer at The Dorm, a mental health and treatment facility for young adults based in New York City and Washington, D.C. Fialk describes how hard mental health after college and confusion of losing dreams can be.
“When you think about graduating from college, there’s a flurry of different emotions that students typically experience,” Fialk said. “They’re certainly happy and proud that they made it through and made it that far. Many students do experience depression over the loss of this phase of their life.”
Reality hits
While stress and fear of the unknown are common feelings among college graduates, teenagers and students who have yet to graduate still dream until reality hits.
A study done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said teenagers and students are still focused on jobs that they dream of doing, but they might not be around long enough for them to be successful.
“On average across selected OECD countries, 41% of the jobs of interest to the most disadvantaged students are at risk of automation compared to 37% of the jobs that the most advantaged students cited,” the study explained.
In the article written by Clayborn, a recent study done by Grand Canyon University suggests 31% of college graduates across the United States feel pressure and anxiety about having a successful career.
Coping with the reality that a dream job will never be reached, Fialk said, is a mentally and sometimes physically taxing experience.
However, success stories do exist.
Max Borghi was a professional football player for the Houston Roughnecks, a team that plays in the XFL. Borghi played football at Washington State and completed something most cannot say they did. He lived his dream and played professional football.
“My dream as a kid was most definitely going professional in football,” Borghi said. “It was always a dream of mine, but I never really understood how hard it is and how much work it was going to take to achieve my goals.”
Having dreams is one thing, but the work and dedication it takes to complete a dream like being a professional athlete is unlike much else. Not putting in the work can be a lot of people’s problems when they are not able to accomplish what they want as an athlete. Not for Borghi.
“My dreams and aspirations were definitely very motivating,” Borghi said. “Having set goals and dreams I wanted to accomplish made it easy to work every day as getting to the level I have has taken consistent work for 15 plus years.”
More than talent
Talent can be seen in every facet of life. Dreaming of working as a doctor, scientist or astronaut, you can be born with the talent in those areas the same way you can with athletic ability and drive. However, you cannot only rely on talent to accomplish a dream, Borghi said.
“I think one of the biggest lessons I was always told when I was a kid and just stuck to my whole life was ‘hard work beats talents when talent doesn’t work hard’,” Borghi said.
He often saw this with people whom he shared his dream with and whom he met during his career.
“I remember throughout my career meeting guys who were absolutely more gifted than me in pure athleticism, but they just didn’t care and didn’t put in the sacrifice and work needed in order to accomplish goals,” Borghi said. “I just knew I never wanted to look back and say ‘I wish I would have worked harder’.”
The hard work and aspirations to make dreams come true can sometimes become too much for someone. Chasing dreams when the reality is that most people do not get their dream job can be a grind. Working and training to be a professional athlete starting at a young age can cause people to give up and look for different experiences. Borghi said he enjoyed every experience.
“The only experiences I really wanted were to hang out with my friends and luckily for me all of my best friends were on my little league football team,” Borghi said. “All my drive to excel in sports happened naturally. Lots of hard work and sacrifices were made but nothing that was detrimental to my experiences as a kid.”
Not everyone’s path to how they end up doing something they love is the same. Holly Dries, a mother of two and a substitute teacher in Evergreen, Colorado, said she is happy with how it all worked out.
“After the birth of my first child, I decided to be a stay-at-home mom and since my kids were in school, I started subbing at their school and have done so for the last 15 years, which has been great,” Dries said.
And I have really enjoyed taking pictures of my kids so it all worked out in the end.
In Dries’s senior year of college, she had the same dream she had since her junior year of high school, she wanted to be a professional photographer. However, she was not expecting that to be her immediate path.
“I did not think that I would be getting a job as a professional photographer but continued taking pictures and learning more about the profession,” Dries said.
After college and receiving her mass communications degree, Dries found herself with multiple jobs from writing press releases and stories as a secretary at a golf course she worked at, to then going back to school and getting her teaching degree.
Dries was able to gain experience working and going into many different professions, something that is being seen more in today’s world. When coming out of college, experiences like this may seem scary Fialk said.
“College graduation can be scary, and adulthood will throw a lot at you fast. It’s normal to not feel totally great about the transition at first,” Fialk said in the article written by Clayborn.
Feeling lost is a common feeling during tough transitions, and Dries could relate to that feeling at times. Despite this, she is thankful for her experiences.
While photography became something she could freelance and do on the side, she said to always chase your dreams.
“I would tell my younger self to not be afraid to go after your dreams even if you fail,” Dries said. “At least you would be happy you tried.”
