In the article “The Pink Floyd Night School”, Professor Mark Edmundson writes about his experiences during life after graduating from college. Now, as an english professor at the University of Virginia, Edmundson tells his readers about the benefits of taking your time to find a career after college. Edmundson describes his course of action after college by saying he “spent five years wandering around doing nothing”. Edmundson took up odd jobs such as cab driving and teaching to make ends meet. His most significant job was as a stage crew member. In this position, Edmundson set up stages for rock bands to perform. Using a narrative style, Edmundson takes the reader through his “most memorable night” as a stage crew member, the night Pink Floyd performed. This night is reflected on by Edmundson in such detail, in order to give the reader a good example of how “taking it slow” after college could potentially create many enjoyable life experiences that could be missed when rushing into a career.
I enjoy the way that Edmundson uses a personal narrative to get his point across. I believe the way Edmundson uses his experience on the night of the Pink Floyd concert to portray a laid-back, but still interesting and exciting life after college, is a great way to convey his message. I agree with Edmundson’s stance on not rushing into a career. I support the idea of graduates taking their time to explore multiple options and avenues now that they are equipped with a college degree. However, I also believe that this strategy could lead to graduates losing focus on their career goals and getting lazy. While Edmundson was still able to find a successful career, taking this path could lead to graduating students finding themselves stuck “wandering around doing nothing” because they lost momentum and are no longer motivated. Although Edmundson is grateful for the years he spent moving between jobs, I believe that for many graduates, this could just end up being a waste of time that they could have spent being productive in the pursuit of their life goals.
Edmundson concludes the article by coming full-circle with his narrative. Beginning the narrative as a college graduate himself, Edmundson closes his story as a professor speaking to a room full of graduating students. He asks them the same question he was asked when he was in their position, “‘So, what are you doing after graduation?’”. Edmundson takes this opportunity to show the reader that there is a parallel between what the acceptable response to that question is today, versus what was expected when he was a graduate. The standard response for Edmundson’s graduating class was that they were “taking it slow”, whether that was the truth or not. Today, however, students respond with elaborate and ambitious plans to attend “law school and med school and higher degrees in journalism and business”. Even though these responses impress Edmundson, he finds himself “worried about them too”. Since taking his time ended up working in his favor Edmundson believes that graduates should explore their options before making big career decisions. Reminiscing about the night of Pink Floyd, Edmundson expresses concern that the students are rushing into their futures, and he believes it is unfortunate that they will likely miss out on having nights similar to the ones he had during his post-college experience.
Although I support Edmundson’s views on taking your time after college, I believe having a plan should also be encouraged among college graduates. For some, like Edmundson, not having a specific plan could work. However, I do not believe that is the case for everybody. Many people need to have an outline of goals to stick to in order to keep advancing successfully, and I would have liked Edmundson to acknowledge the fact that every situation is unique. Many graduates have a tendency to feel lost after college if they do not have anything planned directly after. I believe that if a student plans to take a year or two off from pursuing their career, they should at least be prepared with a plan to work during that time. It is also my opinion that continuing to move towards your career goals after graduation could prevent graduates from losing motivation to pursue careers to which they can apply their degree. Edmundson’s article could be stronger if he had addressed this counter argument and disputed it in his own way, rather than ignoring the benefits of having a concise plan after college graduation.
