I would like to take a moment to whine about my [fabulous] life...

Before I begin with my semi-annual bitch-fest, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge all that I have and how lucky I am. I am 24 years old, in good health, with a small but loving and supportive family, a wonderful partner and the best kitty cat a girl could ask for. I travel extensively and see and do so many amazing things. What's more, nobody in my life tries to make me feel guilty for any of these things. I am so lucky to have friends, family and acquaintances who celebrate my accomplishments and my good fortune with me.

Now I am 24 years old and I have finished undergrad, law school and passed the Bar Exam in Alaska. What's more, I get to live as an ex-pat in Europe for almost a year while I learn a language, meet new people, eat weird foods and see Western Europe. The best part of all is that, aside from some help and emotional support from my family, I am completely self-made. Every application and step required for my accomplishments and experiences with school, jobs, internships, travels, etc have been done by me and me alone. I have written every letter of motivation, every paper, made every phone call and raised the money/taken out the loans myself. So not only did I get to experience all of this, but I get to call it my own also. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now comes the bitching part: Why is it so difficult for young people who WANT to work to find work? I feel like the US has become a place that doles out money to the lazy and "disabled" (sorry, but I'm not buying most of it) but treats hardworking and willing Americans as though we should be grateful to get job offers. Jobs are not gifts, they're something you work for. Even if you have no education and you just fill out an application, get dressed up and go to the interview, you're working for that job already and there should be a position available for you that will allow you to support yourself.

Bringing this back around to my own situation, I do have a job right now. In fact, I haven't been unemployed since I was 15 years old except for my first year of law school and, let's face it, that's understandable. However, starting in May 2010 I will not have a job, not a career type job anyway. I have plans to work for my grandparents for the summer to fund my permanent move to Alaska, but that's just during the harvest season on their farm. Also, as much fun as it is, I didn't go to school for 7 years and incur $125,000 in debt to sell organic fruit. So at this point it's looking like I won't have a long-term job to look forward to after this teaching contract is up in May. I have applied for a series of positions that I am well-qualified for and have been interviewed, and then subsequently rejected, for two of them. My resume is great and I interview pretty well, I think, so what gives? What exactly do I have to do to earn the privilege of working hard for someone else 40+ hours per week just so I can meet my most basic needs and maybe fulfill my life long dream of paying my bills with earned money rather than borrowed money?

This little hissy fit I had in my head today lead me to mentally list all of the things I have done to earn the privilege of working, preferably in the legal field considering I gave 3 years of my life, a lot of money and very nearly lost my marriage during the whole experience. Plus, in my humble opinion, the shear cost and time required for my education entitles me to earn more than someone with just a bachelor's degree. So here's an abridged list of things I have done/continue to do in order to be deemed worthy to earn my own living:

• Started university at age 16 and finished my high school credits by age 17
• Maintained a high undergrad GPA, graduating with a 3.89
• Swam for my university for 2 years, including 6am practices, road trips, etc and received no scholarship money for it
• Earned 2 bachelor's degrees simultaneously
• Earned my JD by age 24, with a concentration in international finance and international trade
• Interned in Virginia, DC, Alaska, Buffalo, and NYC
• Always held one, if not two or three, part time jobs during the school year and in summers
• TA'ed an English at a community college when I was 17. My students where returning education students in their 30's and 40's and I only earned $75/week for hours of grading papers and helping with lessons.
• TA'ed an advanced research methods class when I was 20. My students were 20-22 years old. I gave lessons, administered examinations, provided hours of free tutoring to undergrads and graduate students and I did it all for class credit.
• Worked as an intern for FREE until I was 23 years old, then I made a whopping $1,500 per month for working 40-50 hours per week.
• Maintained solid grades in law school even when my marriage was falling apart, when I was sick as a dog, when I had no car and had to beg rides off classmates, when I was working 25 hours per week on top of 16 hours of classes.
• Had an article published in a professional law journal during my 2nd year. I wrote it entirely on my own with some editing from an attorney I knew, but it wasn't a "team effort" or a "co-authorship," it was mine.
• Met with dozens of attorneys in the DC area, begging for their time just so I could ask questions because, you see, I had never even met a lawyer until I went to law school.
• Moved to NYC my final semester to work with the best lawyers in the business. I hated it, but I worked my ass off and learned as much as I could AND I got a job on the side so I could afford to live there.
• I decided to move to Alaska because, presumably, the opportunities are better there than in New York and I don't have any real connections to any other places.
• Studied for the Bar Exam in Alaska, without knowing a soul in Anchorage.
• Worked for BarBri while studying for the Bar Exam, which only paid me about $800 total for all my work and I had to spend hours every week on the phone with the most unpleasant supervisor anyone has ever had. That woman has no soul and loves to crush everyone. I was actually afraid of failing the exam because I knew she would call to scream at me because I had ashamed the BarBri company.
• Passed the Alaska Bar Exam the first time. Take that, BarBri!
• Spent a total of $125k on my education, about another $3,000 on test prep tuition and costs, and $800 to sit for the Bar Exam not to mention what I spent supporting myself in very expensive cities while I worked for free as an intern.

After all of this I feel like I've paid my dues. Further, every time I am interviewed by someone they read my resume and remark at how active I have been, all of my accomplishments and my maturity for my age. They say how impressive it is that I took the bar exam right away in AK so I could pass it BEFORE taking my gap year so now I should be all set when I come back to the US. They say that I am articulate and interesting and funny and very pleasant. Then they write me an email a week later saying they cannot offer me a position.

Aside from my inability to guess or comprehend my lack of job offers, I am pissed at the state of our country. How is it possible that so many young people like myself, who have worked hard and stayed out of trouble, can have so much difficulty finding work? So, first of all, why is it so difficult to find a job and, secondly, why do would-be employers act like they are doing you a favor if they offer you an interview or a position? A job is not a gift, it is not something given to you out of kindness or charity. It is what we all need to live and be productive members of society. It is an opportunity to be useful to one's community and to earn one's way in the world. Everyone has to work, everyone! What's more, I want to a job that allows me to serve my community (state and local government, non-profit orgs, etc) and pays a live-able wage- just LIVE-ABLE! I'm not expecting or even trying for $125,000 per year like a lot of people I went to school with, just enough to not live in a shithole, to pay my student loans and maybe get a dog, start saving for a house and a baby. Am I being too greedy?

As I said before, I love my life and I am so lucky to have come this far and experienced so much, but there is one fundamental thing missing from my life that no willing and able person should have to go without. I need to start my career, but to do that I need somebody to give me a chance in the way of a first job. I need to break into the legal field and show my stuff. I need the opportunity to make a name and a reputation for myself so that when I am established I can give another eager and hardworking young person the chance to learn and grow and make a name for themselves.

Here concludes my semi-annual bitch-fest. For the next few months I will continue to take any interview I can get, put my best foot forward and hope for an offer. I will also start sending out more resumes, making more calls and testing the waters for other opportunities. This summer, if nothing has come of all of this, I will start to a) look for temp work, b) look for non-legal work c) panic or d) some combination of the above.

To end this [very long] post on a positive note: I wish the very best for everyone who comes across this blog to find a job that not only supports them but also fulfills them. I hope that all of you who are looking for work in our great nation can find it and can lead happy, productive lives knowing that you can care for yourself and are doing some good in the world. Most of all, I hope that all of our hard work in our youths has not been in vain and that we can use our [very expensive] educations to rebuild our country to its former greatness.