I’ve only been out of college for a year. I’m 23 years old and many of my friends are still in school. Being new to the professional realm I seem to find myself questioning my actions. I find my college self clashing with my new professional self quite often. I want to be thought of highly. I want to be a go to person. I want to be that professional person I always envisioned myself being. Just how much of my youth am I willing to give up to in hopes to advance my career? How can I differentiate what could possibly come back to bite me in the ass?

Take a look at my Facebook and MySpace accounts. These are personal accounts that I got during my freshman year of college. Needless to say, some of the wall postings left and some of the pictures tagged- are not exactly what you want seen around the office. (Hello 21st birthday pictures, much?!) Now, all of my online accounts are private which means I have to approve someone before they can see my profile. But recently I have a few colleagues requesting to “friend” me. I debate whether to accept. Will a handful of times that my friends have decided to document with pictures and tag my name to them on Facebook and MySpace make me look bad in front of these people that I respect and hope for the same in return? For example, I recently went to Las Vegas for a my friend’s bachelorette party. Do I really want my coworkers seeing those pictures? The ones where I’ve had so many drinks I decided it would be hilarious to fake fall asleep in the hotel hallway? Or where my friends had to babysit me to make sure I’d switched to water instead of vodka? Is it ok to say I have drunken shenanigans? Are people looking down on me for being wild? Am I wild? You see it’s a vicious cycle!  

In my real life I’m a pretty mellow person. I spend most of the time with my boyfriend on the couch watching movies or cooking dinner. I take my dog to the dog park. My personal life is not exactly Perez Hilton worthy. (Though some day I wish!) But just how much of my youth am I prepared to give up in hopes to advance my career?

I’m stuck in a weird rut of who I was, who I am, and who I want to be. If this is the person I’m to become then I should probably just go full force now and leave those pictures to a separate site for friends. I should learn to embrace my newfound adulthood. I have my own salary and health insurance. I guess it’s time to leave my college self behind. I never thought it would be so hard! But really… who wants to be THAT girl? 

I’m open to any thoughts or advice you might be willing to share. Any good stories where you got busted in the office for some less than appropriate behavior outside the office?