So, Maggie, what are your plans after college?
This is one of my least favorite questions at the moment. Relevant? Sure. Something I want to think about right now? No.
“Oh, I’ll probably end up in Omaha doing something marketing related,” is the generic response I use, but is this really what I want to do?
Or do I want to try something completely different like California, Colorado, or Minnesota?
I’ve proposed these options to a few different people in my life. One of my coworkers this summer encouraged it, saying something along the lines of “everybody needs to go out and experience something new in their lives” and “I think you should do it,” while nodding. Her kids had moved over halfway across the country, so obviously she endorsed the idea. Short, little Linda had big life advice apparently.
When I tell my mom about this you can see the dread pass across her face. For example, when I mentioned that my boyfriend thought about moving to Minneapolis my mom got practically whiny.
“Minneapolis?? But that’s so far awayyyy.”
“Mom, I wasn’t thinking about it anyway, it’s too cold up there. Besides, it’s not that far away”
She brightened up a little after that.
The thought of moving away is obviously tempting, who doesn’t want to experience more of the world? The question is, would I actually like it?
When I was little, my family used to joke that I would never leave the house since I was attached to my mom at the hip. I used to become indignant when people said this, but were they wrong?
I used to go home every single weekend for my first two years of college, granted that was mainly because of who I was dating at the time, but still.
Even now if I don’t go home for a month at a time I start to get antsy.
Would I really be able to move to an area where I only see my family on holidays or special occasions?
Probably not, but the pressure to decide is killer.
Obviously I’m not the only one that has these feelings; college seniors are faced with these tough choices every year.
Bobbi Meister, the counselor on campus, sees a handful of these worried seniors every year. She says most students are worried about the aspect of change and are anxious about the new lifestyle they’ll be thrown into in a few short months.
“There’s just a lot of stress and anxiety, which is totally normal when you’re dealing with any kind of transition, even if it’s a good one,” Bobbi said.
Bobbi then chuckled a bit while saying, “You guys have been going to school your whole lives, so this is a big difference.”
That being said, her sessions with seniors present her with a lot questions. What is going to happen to the relationships I formed at college? What if I can’t get a job lined up in time? What if I can find a job, but it doesn’t pay well? How will I ever pay back my loans?
Brock Bourek, a Theatre and Arts Administration major, can attest to this. He said he’s worried about, “Where I’m going to live and how I’m going to be able to afford literally anything. I’m a bit concerned about finding a decent paying job in my field.”
These are the questions that plague college seniors, even if they don’t go and visit Bobbi for advice. Luckily for me I won’t have to worry about the loans aspect, but I still have my worries.
After talking to people who have recently graduated, the real world seems to be a bit of a monotonous place.
“I work a lot, but when I’m not working I feel like I have nothing to do,” recent grad, Taylor Hixson, said. She noted it’s probably because seeing old friends isn’t as easy as just going down the hall to see them, making plans is hard.
My roommate, Kaitlynn McShane, is also worried about what her social life will be like after college. She’s considering moving back to Montana, where she has family roots, but is concerned about what making friends will be like when she’s not constantly surrounded by people.
“I’m scared because if I were to move out there by myself I wouldn’t know anybody, so that’s of course scary. When you go to someplace new you wouldn’t know anybody at the job and then you get home and you don’t know anybody and there’s nobody to talk to,” Kaitlynn said.
Seeing as how she is one of the most social people I know, I can see how these concerns plague her.
As for me, I’m mainly concerned about the “inevitable monotony” and not finding a job I like. I don’t want to look back on my college years like some and say, “man those were the best years of my life, it doesn’t get better than that.”
That’s why part of Bobbi’s advice for seniors is to make sure to make time for self care. Good examples of self care would be joining groups that will get you involved with people and finding a support system you can fall back on when times are hard.
Another great step towards easing a case of the “after college worries” is meeting up with Stacie Hayes.
When I talked to recent graduates about who was the most helpful during their senior year, they pointed me to Stacie.
Stacie is the career counselor on campus and has one-on-one senior meetings with students every year.
Although some students still try to avoid her and choose the road of procrastination and denial (an undoubtedly enticing road to be on), meeting with her is ultimately to every senior’s benefit.
Stacie gives students a plan to follow while job searching and fills them in on the areas they might not know about. As she said, “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
I recently had my meeting with her and she filled me in on “what I don’t know” and gave me recommended next steps and suggested deadlines.
Considering how much I like to procrastinate, it’s tempting to put it off and wait until it actually becomes a problem. Although I probably won’t do that this time around, it is very tempting (especially given my track record for pulling things off at the last minute).
So what does life after college hold for me? Still hard to say, but I guess we’re about to find out.