Crust_Meister's journey

I've been feeling really unmotivated during my job search, and I think it stems from my experiences since graduating in 2020. I landed a job in my field right after graduation, but I had to leave after a year due to family reasons. Ever since then, I've been applying to various positions related to my degree, but I've received little to no responses. I've heard from others that I just need to wait for the pandemic to end or consider doing free internships, but despite my efforts, nothing seems to work out. When I do hear back from companies, the feedback often suggests that I've been out of the game too long. It feels discouraging to see new graduates being preferred over me, even though I worked hard to keep my skills sharp. I used to be passionate about my degree, but now, after so much silence from employers, my motivation has dwindled. I can't help but question why I invested so much time and effort into my education if I can't even get a chance to prove myself. At this point, I'm not really looking for advice since I've tried many avenues already; I just needed to vent about how the pandemic has impacted my career journey.