Jobs, Leases, and Living in Sin

So here is an interesting twist to complicate (or uncomplicate perhaps?) my life. My boyfriend and I are looking at apartments in the city where he goes to school. This city is only an hour away from our hometown. It'd be nice to be close to my parents, brother, one of my sisters, and my nephew. Since I've visited my boyfriend many times throughout the past three and half years he's gone to school there, I feel like I know the city. Since it's a university town, it's a very young city. There are lots of things to do, recreational softball leagues I could join, good shopping, good bars, good entertainment, etc. Also, this fall I got really interested in following his school's football team. They had a good season. He even took me to a home game. He thinks he could probably get me season tickets in the student section.

The thing is... I don't know what kind of job I could find in this location. Since I think I'd like to start graduate school for documentary film in the fall of 2011, I'd like to do something which would make me more qualified when I'm applying and help me learn more skills. One thing I was thinking about was trying to work as a production assistant or something for a local television news station, but my mom doesn't think they'd be hiring someone fresh out of college for that. She said people older than me with a lot of experience handle the filming, editing, etc.

So, okay, maybe I wouldn't be able to find a job in the industry I'm interested in. What if I look at this just a gap year, a chance to clear my head and reassess my goals, and take a break from school for awhile before starting grad school? It would be a nice, easy transition since essentially I'd be living the life of a college student (my boyfriend will still be in school - he graduates in December) but going to a job instead of class. I filled out an application on the university's website for employment (it took over an hour! I hate applying for jobs... so tedious and time consuming) in some sort of clerical position. Maybe it wouldn't be the most fulfilling work, but I worked as an office assistant here at my school in the performing arts department. If I could get a job with the theatre arts department there, it would be very interesting! But I'm sure those positions don't open up very often, and if even they did, I don't know if anyone would know now that they will need someone in June.

I know my boyfriend needs to know now if I am planning on coming and living with him because he needs to sign a lease before all the apartments get taken. He also needs to let his current roommate (who also is doing an extra semester) know so that he can start looking for his own housing if he and my boyfriend won't be living together anymore. While the idea of living with him sounds really great, I'm a little hesitant because it might not be the smartest thing for me career-wise. I'm also worried I'll miss an opportunity I might be offered between now and graduation in a field I'm really interested in that could involve working with great people and learning a lot.

I think the most important thing to do is identify what is best for me. I have evaluated my mental and emotional state and think I'm not ready to live abroad by myself right away, so that probably takes teaching English abroad out. I need to be close to people who love me. Going to live with him would achieve that (since he loves me, and I'd be close to my family...except my awesome sister who lives in another place since she's studying to be a doctor and is all awesome and stuff... and happens to read my blog!). I'm not worried that we would break up during the time of the lease since we're always insanely happy when we're together. I think it would be so much fun! Whether or not we will eventually get married, I don't know. I do know, however, that I'm not ready to walk away from this relationship. I really want to give it a chance. I feel like if I don't live with him and try it at some point, I'll regret it for the rest of my life. Why not take the time now to do that? Isn't this relationship important too? More important than a career? Who knows?

Well, apart from me not being able to find a job in the city he goes to school, there is one more major road block: His conservative, religious parents. They don't want us living together before marriage. Unfortunately for them, I refuse to marry someone without living with them first. We're sort of waging war through Greg. He seems to think his mom might be receptive to at least talking about it, but he is really worried about upsetting them and straining his relationship with them by living with me against their wishes. Since he is still very financially dependent on them, this is a legitimate concern. He also loves his parents and doesn't want a bad relationship with them for that reason alone.

I'm not sure how all this is going to work out, but I will keep trying on different scenarios and seeing how they feel. This one feels pretty okay. While I'm worried about closing myself off to other opportunities in other locations that I might find, it would be nice to know sooner rather than later what I'm doing after Graduation so I can relax a little and enjoy my last semester without stressing about finding a job, etc. I just need to make sure that after the year is up, I'm taking the next step towards my career which is furthering my education by going to grad school. I want to make sure it's in a location I really like, too, and that I'm not signing up for staying so close to home for the rest of my life. I'm hoping he would try to find a job where I want to go next if I am coming to live with him now.

What do you think? Do you know what you are doing when you graduate?