Somewhere between responsible and restless

With less than 90 days until graduation, there’s a certain pressure, partially self-imposed and partially peer-imposed, to capitalize on every opportunity during senior year. Everyone wants to make it the year of saying yes to every adventure, big or small. At the same time, however, I know I have a future to prepare for — that I need to make responsible decisions applying to jobs and saving money for post-grad.

Trying to maximize all my opportunities to travel, to explore, to go to concerts, to take useful and exciting classes and more — basically to do everything — unfortunately, isn’t a sustainable lifestyle. I’m beginning to realize that both logistically and financially it’s kind of impossible to do it all. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day.

So recently I’ve been asking myself where exactly to draw the line. Should there be an even balance between being responsible, and being restless? Or do I want to walk the line of how long I can put off writing that paper, how many new L.A. restaurants I can go to and how many trips I can afford while still landing a job and saving just enough in my bank account?

For the past few months I’ve been looking into planning a post-grad trip to Iceland, and I’ve finally found a group of friends that’s ready to commit to booking plane tickets. However, with job applications with my name on them sitting on desks in cities across the United States, I’m unsure where to even book my flights from or where to return to. That’s logistical problem number one.

Then, there’s the question of how long I can afford to be out of the country. Will I put my job prospects at risk if I would potentially need to delay when I could begin working? What about internships and fellowships I’ve already applied to that have strict June 1 start dates? I know this summer might be the last chance I get to travel for a while, and I want to make the most of it, but I also recognize that it’s not exactly responsible to jeopardize career opportunities in order to do so.

This internal struggle is part of the reason why many of my friends didn’t want to commit to a post-grad trip in the first place. It is a list of very valid concerns.

I know I’m extremely lucky to have all these opportunities in the realm of possibility while also graduating from a USC in the next few months. I also know that I’ll likely have to make certain choices. I can’t let the nagging question, “But when am I going to be able to do ______ or go to_______ after graduation ever again?” stress me out because, although it doesn’t seem like it now, a lot of these opportunities  may very well present themselves again in the future. (Even if it means waiting a few years for my vacation time to build up.) In the meantime though, I’ll just have to focus on being restless in the most responsible way possible.

Emily Goldberg is a senior majoring in print and digital journalism. Her blog column, Diaries of a Second-Semester Senior, runs every Thursday.