It’s so weird being eighteen. You’re at an age when you’re not a girl, not yet a woman. Cue Britney Spears.

Okay, so maybe I’m being a little melodramatic. But I’m truly at a weird point in my “professional” life, whatever that means. The reality is, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, I feel like I don’t have access to the same opportunities as my peers who are upperclassmen. As a legal adult, I’m expected to uphold a decent job… Yet the jobs I qualify for seem to include barista, sales associate, and not much in between. So much for that dream job at Got It Made L.L.P…. for now.

It’s no small secret that being a (budding) young professional in 2012 is hard. I don’t know much about business or the economy or the job market, but I’m aware that things are different from the way they were twenty years ago. You don’t need to be a Wall Street Journal subscriber to know that people are retiring later and job are harder to come by. This is especially true for younger and thus less qualified job applicants such as myself.

I recently applied for Maximum Impact 2012, Deloitte’s Alternative Spring Break. It is a community service program sponsored by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu USA L.L.P. and the United Way of America. Deloitte’s website more formally describes it as…

… a week-long, expenses-paid trip to Atlanta, GA, where we’ll be supporting students in at-risk communities inside and outside the classroom. Also, you’ll be working side by side with professionals and recruiters from Deloitte who can offer an inside look into life in professional services. And after a day spent working together, there will be plenty of opportunity for fun, including dinners, outings and other team-building activities.

Well, I think that beats watching Doctor Who reruns on BBC for a week. I’m still young and idealistic, so I believe that pro bono (or for the public good) work is best way to manifest one’s professional talents. My desire to contribute and give back to the community drives my career aspirations. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like Maximum Impact 2012, so I applied for the program in late January, knowing that I probably wouldn’t get one of 50 – 55 available spots. But I had to at least try! Like I said, it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. And who knows… If I keep trying, I might get lucky one of these days (I will keep you guys posted)!

I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with my life, but the bottom line is that I want to do good. Actually, I want to do a lot of good! Some typical career-related questions confuse me, like “How would you describe yourself?”. My response better answers “What motivates you?”.

I’m a lot of things. I’m a student. I’m a blogger. I’m a fat cat lover, a good book reader, and a green tea drinker. And I plan to use my talents to do good. Actually, a lot of good.