Charisse cheers us on!
Red Skies Writer Charisse Thompson '18 looks forward to her future.
When you graduate, the first thing people like to ask you is, what do you have planned next. Do you have job prospects somewhere? What are your plans? For the sake of every college student, can we not ask these questions. Do graduates have to have an elaborate plan?
It’s scary to think about what’s going to happen next once you graduate. Rent is extremely high, you need experience you don’t have to start at an entry-level job, and the economy is basically in shambles. There’s no sure way to plan after college, life is way too unpredictable for that. Maybe a draft of what you want to happen seems more fitting, with the final version being unknown at the moment.
You don’t realize how quickly college goes by until you’re at the end. If I’m being honest, I’m torn between relief and fear. For so long, we focus on school and finally our focus will be elsewhere. It’s exciting and scary to think about. I personally find comfort in school. Don’t get me wrong it’s extremely stressful, but I know what to relatively expect each semester. Once I graduate and receive my diploma, that’s all going to change. Change isn’t a bad thing though, just a different experience.
As an English Major, going into the job world of Massachusetts seems daunting to say the least. From what I’ve seen there aren’t too many writing jobs, but I’ve seen a few offered in Boston. I’ve enjoyed working on a magazine so I think I’m going to continue pursuing this route as much as I can. There are a number of publications and magazine opportunities in Boston, so finding one of those to work for me is the plan after graduation. New York City has even more magazine companies, so that might be the big goal once I have some experience here. Living in New York and working at a magazine such as Elle or Vogue sounds ideal for me. But who knows, people change their minds all the time, so that’ll just be the plan for now.
It’s okay if you don’t know what you’re doing after college. I know we’re expected to know precisely what we want to do for the rest of our lives, but we’re still young. If you’re still in the figuring out stage, that’s fine as everyone has their own pace.
Most importantly, you’ve got time. It may seem as if time’s running out, I definitely have had this personal timeline for myself in the past, but it’s more stressful than helpful to do that. Everyone is going to have a different timeline in life, because we’re all different people that live through different situations. You can’t compare yourself to someone who after graduating from college is able to afford a house with help from mom and dad. But most of us don’t come from a wealthy background. Realistically buying a house after college is very far-fetched in the world we live in, and who wants to be saddled with all that responsibility at such as young age?
Just continue to grow as a person and be open to the opportunities that life will throw at you, and everything will be fine after graduation. Things happen for a reason, even if the reason is unknown to you at the time.
Congratulations to everyone graduating! You did it!