Lack of cultural amenities in Valley discouraging

New Ways of Living
By Sharn Dhah

I WILL BE GRADUATING in the spring.

Like other soon-to-be graduates, I have been looking into graduate schools.

All of the schools I am considering are out of state, and many are on the East Coast.

My friends and family have asked me why I want to go so far away.

I was born and raised in Fresno, and it seems strange to them that I would want to leave.

However, this is precisely one of the reasons why I would like to go to school somewhere new, if only to experience a change of scenery.

But more practically, I have to leave because there are too few job opportunities for me here.

Fresno has seen an exodus of sorts when it comes to college graduates.

This has been referred to as a “brain drain,” describing how the young, educated population has left the Central Valley for bigger cities.

They go in search of careers that are either unavailable in the Valley or more readily found in a larger city.

It’s sad but true that Fresno is not a friendlier town for artists, writers, scientists and other individuals dubbed as ‘creative professionals.’

Although the downtown area has valiantly been trying to attract more people to visit and do business there, it is not yet a thriving cultural hub.

It seems as though the city council is more concerned with bringing retail outlets to the area in an attempt to boost the local economy.

If it’s anyone’s dream to work as a sales representative at Bass Pro Shop, you might be in luck.
If you want to be a painter, however, you might have to move to San Francisco.

It’s not that there is necessarily a lack of jobs in the Valley, but there is a lack of opportunities for those who want to pursue more artistic endeavors.

In searching for internships in the editing and publishing field earlier this year, I came up empty-handed.

This was pretty discouraging.

I began to realize that I would have to search outside Fresno for places that could offer what I am looking for.

I applaud the efforts of Career Services for bringing job and internship fairs to campus, but the employers that they attract just don’t do it for me.

I don’t want to work for Pepsi or Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

That may be fine for other people, but not everyone.

I feel that the college graduates who leave Fresno must do so in order to gain experience in the field that they are interested in.

If Fresno lacks these jobs (and it does) then we are forced to go elsewhere.

However, the problem remains that there is a dearth of career opportunities for the next wave of college grads, meaning they will also leave, thus continuing the cycle of loss of creative professionals for our city.

The answer may be that we need to take it upon ourselves to create something in Fresno that will contribute to a growing job market.

If the creative professionals who choose to leave later decide to move back to Fresno and introduce more creative jobs in the area, this will benefit the next generation of job seekers.

We have to become entrepreneurs in our chosen fields, to carve out a place for ourselves and provide opportunities for others.

We cannot wait for someone else to do it, or for the city government to do it, because if we do, nothing will get done and we will be continually disappointed.

I’m asking you to feel a sense of responsibility for your community.

The situation will not get better if we do not actively try to improve it.

Fresno is my home, and it always will be.

Even if I move far away, this will always be my base.

I plan on returning, to visit family and friends, but also to check in with my city to see how it develops and if it begins to foster the creative young individuals it hopes so badly to hold onto.

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