BEB: Where Am I Headed? An Incomplete Guide to Figuring Out What To Do After College
By Olivia Jenkins
Not to be dramatic, but I have zero clue what I plan on doing after graduation - and I’m 100% okay with that. Senior year has been a long readjustment period for me since I’m taking harder classes and have to relearn how to balance my academics, social life, and career goals. The question I keep dodging is the same question that I’ve been asked since freshman year: what do you plan on doing with your degree? So in response to this, I have come up with a guide for other people (are you even out there?) who have no idea what they want to do after graduation.
First, you need to create a default response for when people ask you those haunting questions: what are you doing after graduation? Do you have a job lined up for after the spring? What do you even plan on doing with an English degree? You can use these responses at family reunions, meetings with your academic advisor, networking events, etc. Here are a couple that I’ve been using recently:
I plan on trying every drink on the Starbucks menu (including the seasonal and “off-menu” items)
I will be moving to Adelaide, Australia to raise golden retrievers on a free range dog farm
I am going to get a job as a professional food orderer (for those indecisive people at restaurants)
I have accepted a position as a publicist for my university’s mascot
The next thing you can do to figure out what to do after university is to utilize an academic resource center like Google. You can literally find millions of jobs online and apply to any of them that even remotely sound interesting. Who cares if you have to fudge your resume a bit? Isn’t that we learned in our high school English classes? How to craftily use synonyms to make your experience sound a lot more suited to the professional world? I worked at a frozen yogurt store as a cashier and on my resume I listed that I have experience managing financial accounts for large corporations… which is technically true, right?
I get it. It’s tough when people ask you questions that you don’t have the answer to - we have all been there. Being unsure of what you’re going to be doing post-spring semester is not an uncommon thought. In fact, that uncertainty pretty much comes with the territory of going to university. But that looming question doesn’t have to define how you spend your time or become a giant stressor that causes you to lose sight of the fact that university years are supposed to be an incredible experience. It’s important to allow yourself the space to grow and discover more about yourself.
So maybe you don’t get your dream job after college - that doesn’t mean you’ve failed and it certainly doesn’t mean that the rest of your life is doomed. I find that in moments when I get anxious about what my future holds, it is helpful to be grateful that I have access to an amazing education that has already afforded me so many advantages.
And if all else fails, know that you’re not alone. I am in this with you. There are hundreds of other students who also don’t know what they’re doing. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that everyone else has it all together.
Stay grateful, keep your mind open, and remember that you can always fall back being a dog farmer.
Xoxo
Liv