Impressionability

I'm at that point in my life where I have no idea what I'm doing. Post-graduate with no real job options in this economy, I feel like I've spent so much money on an education and now I'm even more confused then before! Every possibility that crosses my mind sounds like the best one at the time. Am I so eager to so something with my life that at this point I'll do anything?

My degree is in biology, which was chosen almost at random. My minor in English reflects what I'm truly good at and more passionate about. I love reading and writing and have a knack for it. But at the time I finally declared a major, science was the route I chose because it was interesting and very challenging. Now that I'm done with school, everything seems challenging. My prospective career path is in nursing; however, nearly all nursing programs in the state of CA are impacted so there is about a two year wait list. In the mean time, what shall I do...? I'm trying to pick up some freelance writing jobs, even unpaid just to get my name out there. I'm currently working on some writing projects for a local artist, but I'm realizing that this "unpaid experience" thing isn't going to pay my bills. I need to do something, go somewhere....I don't know....it's that quarter-life crisis.

I love to travel and have been wanting to get back out there, but being a student, it is difficult to save the kind of money needed for such a trip. Last night one of my good friends had a going away party that I missed out on because I was to work. She is leaving on Sunday to study abroad in Paris for 4 months, and I am sooo jealous. As someone who loves to explore new things, new places, new food, new culture...Paris is somewhere that I would looove to visit while I'm young. I've been talking about it for sometime, but now that my life is temporarily going nowhere, it seems like a great time to hop on a plane and explore a new city! With my friend living there for a few months, the desire to go stay with her for a couple weeks and refresh my spirits is all too tantalizing. I have some money saved up in a travel account, and a trip like this would probably deplete it (as I know I wouldn't be able to control my shopping and eating habits in a city like Paris). But every time I see or hear anything about Paris, I'm so tempted to go. Granted, I've been impulsive like this about most of the doors that I have tried to open in the past few weeks, but why shouldn't I be? Is this impressionability the result of being a lost and confused post-grad with very few options? Or is this just my free-spirited self seeing an opportunity that won't last much longer?

The answer to these questions seems to lie somewhere in between. I'm having a hard time figuring it out, and I think the answer I'm looking for (or at least part of it) might be in Paris...