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northbrooktower.com sound off
the northbrook tower | May 4, 2017 | 29
Social snapshot
Top Web Stories
From northbrooktower.com as of
Monday, May 1
1. Philbin makes solo debut at Irish dancing
2. 10 Questions with Joel Zimmerman,
Glenbrook North boys track and field
3. D225 Board: GBS, GBN migrate from
quarter to semester grading system
4. Glenbrooks add unique twist to ‘Fiddler On
the Roof’
5. Lucky Fish to likely feature on-street valet
parking
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Northbrook Junior High posted this pic
from their school garden on April 22.
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Travel here, there and everywhere with us
during the 48th annual Northbrook-On-Ice
production. Get your tickets. @nb_parks
The Northbrook Park District tweeted on
April 15.
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From the Assistant Editor
The incoming graduates
Sarah Haider
s.haider@22ndcenturymedia.com
Is it a bird? Is it a
plane? No, it’s plastic
graduation caps being
thrown into the air. In the
next three weeks, college
kids will return to Northbrook
in hordes, many
with a brand new, stiff diploma
in hand. Toward the
end of the month, a new
batch of legal adults will
march across the stage at
Glenbrook North, move
their cord to the other side
and make their way into
the real world.
Between graduation
parties and the freedom
in the summer sun, we
seasoned adults often
forget one thing about this
past time in life — it’s terrifying.
Even though the
graduates are all adults,
they are just starting to
stumble into the dance of
life.
Think Ben Braddock in
“The Graduate,” returning
home after excelling at
college to proud parents
and a party full of people
thrusting their secrets to
success upon him while he
is the midst of one of the
most confusing and scary
transitions life has to offer.
Braddock spends his time
staring into a fish tank,
worrying about his future,
before his parents remind
him there is a room full of
people waiting downstairs
to congratulate him.
Our graduates are seeing
the big, scary world
for the first time down
from the safety of their
ivory towers, worrying if
there is a place for them,
and we are so eager to remind
them it’s all waiting
there for them to dive in.
I officially graduated
college a year ago with an
unwavering determination,
a positive outlook
and the shadow of the
fear of failure following
every footstep. It was a
struggle at first, filling out
dozens of online applications,
the equivalent of
shouting into the void.
Three months in, with the
ever-present realization
that I had just spent a ton
of money and time at a
university, my hopes went
to finding the perfect job,
to a job that paid well, to
literally any job.
But I got lucky. Through
a series of events that
started with asking my
friend’s mom’s friend for
a job, I was directed to
our local trivia host at The
Curragh, The Northbrook
Tower’s past Assistant Editor
Riley Simpson, which
ended with me getting an
offer for a job I wanted to
take: this one. Thankfully,
I didn’t settle. I scored
a job that challenges me
every day while getting to
cultivate my passion working
in a community I care
about.
I can see now, from my
stable position, that it was
always going to be all
right and I would always
find my way, but then I
felt like I was standing at
the bottom of a pool wearing
a 100-pound metal
diving suit.
While I understand the
excitement for our graduates,
I caution patience
and understanding. It’s a
hard market to be entering.
The average time to
find a job after graduation
is three to nine months.
Even once the first job is
snagged with a sigh of
relief, it still doesn’t mean
the search is over.
Just take a look at GBN
graduate Nathan Ross,
who went to law school
before moving out to L.A.
and forging an unconventional
path to being one
of the most successful
producers in Hollywood,
or John Geary, who
started off in advertising
before following his
passion in live music, now
managing one of the most
up-and-coming venues in
Chicago.
Finding the path of
the passion to dedicate
our lives to is not easy
and usually not direct. At
times, it is grueling and
seemingly hopeless, but I
believe it may be worth it.
If you have already
found yours, remember
the journey it took to
reach it and as we watch
our graduates finding their
own way through struggles
and success, remember
they are trying. They
will want to succeed just
as much, if not more than
you want to see them to
succeed. And with a little
time, a lot of determination
and a support group
of family and friends, they
will.
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Tower
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Value of shirts
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