How to be an Alumnus – thoughts of a Yuppie part 2

I think this post has come into being because I’m seeing all kinds of updates from people  trying to finish up their last semester. That and my college mail account is officially being taken down like a WWE has-been*. So where does that leave me and all my wonderful .edu-based subscriptions?

Gmail-land.

Or rather, in the largely developed country of Gmail located on the Google continent.

Because if Reddit has one, I have to assume Google** does too.

Map of Redditland

4) Tie-up your loose ends in the idyllic era of college and join the real world. 
Now would be the time to start moving over your e-mail subscriptions to a permanent e-mail address. Let me hit the big ones: Facebook, Amazon, eBay, etc. I found that my travel points (travel websites such as Hyatt and multiple airlines) were still linked to my edu account, since I did a fair amount of traveling to research conferences back in the day***. Speaking of which, my favorite travel website–student universe–will be lost to me.

Additionally, let’s not forget to mention all those discount bookstore accounts you opened up in order to meet that already insignificant student budget you had per semester. You probably won’t be needing those anymore, but you should make sure you close that account since it has your credit card number.

Link to Google reader should you dare to be awesome

Once your done with that, head on over to Google and fist-pump that account! If you already have one, congratulations on being a great human being.^† You can start being responsible^†† by labeling your incoming e-mails as work-related, bills, family, friends, travel plans, and many other things. Plus the newly updated outlook allows you to sort between Important and Unimportant in addition to your Read and Unread e-mails by use of Google magic.

Speaking of Google magic, they also use this sorcery to sort your subscriptions on Google Reader. You can follow news and any blog you want in the world, and possibly even outwit those company firewalls in doing so. I am not, however, endorsing subscription to any ridiculous NSFW sites. That is entirely your business.

Having said that, I firmly believe that every individual has a civic responsibility, especially in the global sense, in terms of keeping up with the news. No longer are we piggy-backing on the finances and support of any third party (I leeched that scholarship for every penny it was worth. L.i.t.e.r.a.l.l.y. ). What happens down on Wall Street is no longer a mere shiver or tiny reverberation in our gas tanks. Political action and socioeconomic situations will manifest in your dailies. For example, how many of you panicked, got a stroke, or dropped dead when Wikipedia blacked out for the SOPA protests? How many of you actually did something about it? It’s one thing to be affected, and another thing to be effective.

Our generation today is fundamentally dependent on the free exchange of a cosmic amount of information online. Join the real world.

We’ve got cookies. (Pun soooo intended)

5) Read on the daily! You’ve actually got time now.

You don’t have to subscribe to your local newspaper (I don’t because my university gave it to me for free when I was in college, and I’m pretty spoiled so I look it up online now). Here you go: Newsmap.jp.

Also, should you decide to not be a completely boring individual, I’d also dabble in a bit of fiction. There are lots of books nowadays. ^†††

If you used to be a member of your local public library, I would suggest picking that membership up or applying for a new one. I’d also suggest being a member of several ones if you’re able. (Currently a member of three: my home public library, the public library in my college town, and that of my current city). Why you ask? Because everything is digital now! Well, almost everything. That feeling of nostalgia and new-world sense of fantasy, elicited by the scent of old leather-bound books and the texture of coffee-stained antiquated paper is non-transferable byte-wise. But having three different databases of digitally stored literary material allows me access to a wide variety of fiction, history, and non-fiction (I like to point out that I believe history falls in neither fiction or non-fiction since most of it includes things that were true once upon a time). Most libraries nowadays have OverDrive access, where they store audiobook and ebooks of many modern (and sometimes not!) titles the library owns. My long drives are now made useful when I download a new book onto my iPod. Seven hours of battling dragons, muttations, monopolizing evil companies, and Voldemort is more interesting than seven hours of silence. (But since 8tracks has come out on Androids, that is no longer an option. Yay!)

I would also recommend getting a tablet. Not only is it handy for looking up recipes while in the kitchen, or immediately hitting Like on that friend’s new Facebook status on his loss of ability to metabolize alcohol since graduating, but you can also download programs, such as Kindle Reader and B&N’s Nook, that allow access to free titles and Daily Deals ($4.98 for the Hunger Games. Wut. Book review to follow)–in addition to a vast collection of recently published books of any type. Additionally, Amazon Prime allows Kindle owners to borrow books from their Amazon Kindle Library, a feature that comes free with the membership! Alas, it is not available on any other tablet such as iPads or Androids. They make this function available to Kindle owners only .

Want to see what all the hype is about the upcoming movie because no movie nowadays is made without a book and fan-base behind it? Read. (Or listen. Whichever floats your boat.)

6) TRAVEL!!!

Allows you to track flight prices!

I can’t stress this enough, but take this time of yuppiness to see the world.  I understand the wonder of video games and poker night. I do! But there’s so much to see beyond that dominion you call your daily life. Even if its just to drive to the next town over to see what they mean by Mardi Gras (um YES), or saving $50 a paycheck for that weekend in Las Vegas, no investment is considered too small. I recommend Hotwire.com, Kayak.com, and Farecompare.com as essential tools for any spontaneous^‡ desire to travel. If you travel in your line of work, set aside time to look at the daisies. Take a few pictures, drink the local alcohol, and make a few connections, Facebook or LinkedIn.

If you can convince your HR to allow you to go to professional conferences without having to take vacation leave, I would highly advise it (even better if you can get them to pay for it). I’m thinking about doing this myself. It allows you to make connections and brush up on the current techniques of your industry. If you’re looking for a key-phrase for a highly impassioned argument, mention any of the following three: 1) Safety, 2) Public relations/commercialization, 3) Environmental Standards and Practices. These are all valid points in most professional conferences today. It gives the employees that make up your company’s professional community a competitive edge. Investing per individual betters the company from the ground up.

So my darlings, I’ve managed to tell you how to live your life for the day (fear not, I’ll probably continue to do so). I hope it took you to read and digest this post as long as it took me to write it… aka an entire work-day.

And bam! Time to go home!

—Footnotes— ^‡‡

*Normally I’d take the time to explore such a metaphor, but do with it as you will.

**Just a hint, googling “Map of Google-land” is not effective. I suppose Google is too classy to allow artist interpretations of their infrastructure. Or are they? Hmmm. Challenge accepted.^‡‡‡

***The terminology “back in the day,” I declare, shall henceforth be applicable to 6 months past and beyond. Otherwise, I’ll forever be stuck in the unit of semesters when counting back in time. (i.e. “Yeah I got these car a couple semesters ago.” “Dude, next spring semester, we should go to NY.” “I think I lost weight this semester.”) Not classy.

^†Now that’s not to say you can’t be a great human being without it, but it becomes a lot easier. True story.

^††If you were like this already in college, hats off to you. Eighty-five percent of the people in the honors wing alone do not even categorize their closet (because shoes and socks are often found in the same cabinet).

^††† I like to assume my readers know nothing before coming to my blog, thus their minds are blown by reading my rants… Just Kidding! ^_~

^‡Being spontaneous only means fun. Not expensive. If by default, it does for you, that is a personal problem that needs to be dealt with in another yuppie post hahahahaha.

^‡‡ <–this is pretty ridiculous.

^‡‡‡ You know I’m enjoying myself when I make footnotes in my footnotes. But maybe, just maybe, I actually will be able to make a map of Google. Or I can wait for someone highly more addicted to the Internets than I–though I seriously question the existence of such a person.

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