By SHANNA BARBER

For the Mirror

Hello? Where are you? You were supposed to pick me up after school. I’ve been sitting here waiting and waiting, but you haven’t come like you promised you would. I was led to believe that you would be here for me, waiting at the door when it was time for me to go.

All the other kids’ jobs came to pick them up, and now they’re sitting on a nice little nest egg. But where are you? I’m really tired of waiting, but that’s all I can do.

Maybe it’s my fault. I mean, maybe I wasn’t as focused as I should have been. I guess all the other kids did have internships, and did belong to clubs, but should I be punished for a lack of ideas? My not getting more involved is a result of my not knowing which direction to take — not a lack of drive; 99.9 percent of my composition consists of drive.

And it’s not as if I am not curious or disinterested — quite the contrary. I am perhaps too curious and fully interested. I guess I just can’t decide which one of you I want to pick me up.

Can I help it if I had some sort of academic ADD? I couldn’t concentrate. I loved college, and I loved learning.

There are times when I envy those mechanical engineers who have a black-and-white interest, study a black-and-white subject and get a black-and-white job.

I wish it were that simple. But there are also those times when I am immeasurably thankful for having such scattered interests. It has lent itself very favorably to my writing. Observation and curiosity are, in my opinion, two of the fundamental skills needed to be a successful writer.

So why, if I have the intellect, the drive and the curiosity, am I still living at home without a career? College aside, I am beginning to figure out that I am experienceless. What does this mean? Well, so far, every job description I come across requires at least one year of experience.

Now I know I was an English major, and I may not be the world’s greatest mathematician, but I’ve done some math on this, and the formula seems to be a little faulty: If job = experience, then experience = job. But if job does not = discipline (and job cannot = discipline without experience), then job cannot = experience. The flaw I am finding here is that there’s lots of experience to be had, but not jobs to get, to equal that experience.

Confused? I am, too. Basically, it’s the old chicken-and-the-egg riddle.

So what to do without experience and without a clue as to what my path shall be? I’ll bet you think I have some sort of insightful answer, since I took the time to write this. I don’t. If I did, I probably wouldn’t have to write this article. I’d be sitting in my cubicle somewhere, carving out a life, instead of in my den, venting to you.

I will pass on these little nuggets I have picked up:

• If you are a recent or “limbo” graduate (one who is two-plus years out of the gate), as am I, stay strong. Join organizations, volunteer, take more classes, temp. Temping does not have to be just a paycheck — it can become a great experience-gathering, network-forming tool.

• Finding a job is not a simple, stage-in-life happening that just comes to you like the classes you’ve registered for. Finding a job is a job, especially in this economy. You have to employ that precious drive of yours and search and search and search. I can attest to that. I’m nine months into my quest.

• If you’re in college, get involved. Take internships, join clubs, talk to counselors and interview professors. Find out as much as you can. Because as I’ve found out, that is the easier fare you must pay to get the “job bus” to swing by your door when school lets out.

Or at least to establish a stop.

Shanna Barber is a University of Washington graduate. She lives in Bellevue.

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