Two Days in Budapest

Gutsy New Grad on December 8, 2008 11:35 AM


I must be honest, there didn’t seem to be such a hurry in May to find a job. The recession that is currently devouring our national economy hadn’t become official yet – Lehman was still in existence, Goldman and Morgan hadn’t become bank holding companies, and Hank Paulson wasn’t making daily television appearances regarding our nation’s financial institutions. Thus, not knowing what was to come, I decided that my hard working and conscientious-self was worthy of a trip to celebrate my four years of diligence and academic success. It was a time of celebration, a time of elation, and the first time in my 21 years in which my time wasn’t structured.

I took off for a ten-day trip to Israel in mid-June. My best friend and I participated in a fully-paid for-trip through the Birthright organization. The trip itself was engaging, eye-opening and truly fascinating. I felt rejuvenated, invigorated, and completely revitalized while I was there; the absence of classes combined with the cultural immersion was overwhelming fulfilling. An added perk was that the airfare was included, so we had the opportunity to extend our trip and continue our travels indefinitely. My post-college life left me with no classes, no exams, and no academic commitments; I had the freedom and ability to continue on with my travels. My group’s flight had a layover in Budapest, a fabulously historic city to finish off my 10 day Israeli excursion.

Yet some unnerving impulse within me stopped my change of flight transaction mid way – some unnerving impulse that I’ve yet to forgive. I saw images of an HR department sorting through job applications while I was atop a camel in the middle of the desert. While someone was interviewing for my dream job – I was floating down the Jordan River. Truly invaluable experiences that I would never seek to replace – yet this unstructured bit of pure bliss and freedom couldn’t overpower my overly diligent self.

I headed back to the states after my 10 days in Israel, only to be reminded last month while I was still in the midst of my six-month job search, that I opted out of two days in Budapest - two days – to go get that job. That job didn’t come in any time frame I ever could have imagined, and regrettably I have still only seen Budapest from the airport windows…

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