MADISON, Wisconsin
One year out of college, Tim James has had a rude awakening to the real world.
"I was just taking it easy, thinking about my friends and everything, you know," said James.
"And my parents they just like said I had to quit farting around - my dad's word, he never curses, the pansy. Anyway, they said I had to focus and start paying for stuff, get a job and all."
"So I'm like 'whatever' because I've just gotten out of school and I want to make sure I make a good decision, you know? It's a big commitment and I want to make sure I'm doing something that's cool and sounds cool because I don't want to go up to chicks and be, like, 'Hey baby, I flip burgers,' you know?' Like I'd ever get laid that way, right?"
"It's just total bullshit is what it is."
James may be right. In a survey conducted jointly between Pew Research Center, Johns Hopkins and the University of Michigan, 67% of respondees described their first year out of college as being "total bullshit" while 18% said it "sorta sucks" and 15% found it to be "a fucking pain in the ass."
When told of the study and it's findings, James just shook his head and said, "damn that's rough."
The past year has brought many changes for James who is a thinner version of the fresh-faced younger version seen in graduation photos. James traces this change to a financial situation that has caused him to move from imported beer to domestic. "It's like torture to drink a six," says James, "and don't even get me started on cigarettes."
Eyes, once sparkling with fun, now stare blankly into the pavement as he talks in soft tones about the changes he's seen in his life over the past year.
"At a certain point in your life, you feel really optimistic. You figure things will always be cool and then one day the song ends, you know. I'm stronger for it, I know that now. But it's been a rough ride. And it's not just me, my friends are the same way. All confused and shit."
James, an owner of a 1997 four-wheel drive Jeep Wrangler with a quadraphonic Blaupunkt and twelve-disc CD changer, is one of a growing number of graduates who leave college without a clear path.
