What has happened to the cool, hip lifestyle I envisioned- still envision - for my 20's? I'm already 26 and I haven't actualized any of the completely attainable fantasies that I have in my head. Before I know it, I'm going to be 30 and wonder where the coolest years of my life went. I would say the main problem is my employment. Despite two degrees, one of which is VERY cool, I'm still stuck in the restaurant industry. Admittedly, I could be more proactive and pound the pavement a little more, but damn it, should I really have to? The way I see myself, people should be throwing themselves at me in order to have me on their team. But alas, it's just not working out that way. I apply for at least 30 positions a month without so much as an email or a call back, let alone an interview. What have I done wrong? Have I made that many bad choices in my life? Looking for a job is utterly depressing for me. I scan entertainment websites several times a week for new postings and about once every two weeks, I get hard-core and dig really deep, looking for something, anything that doesn't have to do with food but all it does is set me into a funk of disappointment. All of this education, all of this experience but it seems I'm still not qualified to do anything other than serve you food. I don't dislike but job but it sure as hell isn't what I thought I'd be doing at 26. I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face because I just don't know what to do. The whole reason I went back to school in 2004 was because I couldn't find something that I truly wanted to do. Now, 2 years and $50,000 later, it's more of the same. I love my husband, I would never want to leave him and am quite content with Nashville. But I still find myself wondering what the hell I'm going to do. I'm not the awesome professional I always thought I would be. Maybe I really just didn't know how to get to that place that I saw in my head and am now realizing that I went in completely the opposite direction with my education and experience and have no idea, short of returning to school, of how to reverse it.