Conquering Your Graduation Fears

When it comes to those final weeks of college, what isn’t there to worry about? You’re saying goodbye to friends, prepping for finals and trying to figure out what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. It’s no wonder that for most students, the end of senior year is a mixture of exhaustion and uncertainty.

The Career Decision.
“I am really worried about being on my own and not having the luxury of being in school,” says Diana Selwyn, a 22-year-old double major in theater arts and Spanish at the University of Iowa. “It is scary to know that I have to make a definitive choice about what my life will be like and that I can’t just stop doing it if I don't like it.”

Finding a field that excites you is one key to post-college comfort. “[Students] need to find where their passion is,” says Judi Blum, a career counselor at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. “If they don’t have internship experience, they don’t know what they really like doing.”

So, volunteer, intern, work part-time or take a class in an entirely new field to help find a future you can see yourself happy in. Just keep in mind that many people don’t get a job doing exactly what they want straight out of school. Taking a job to pay the bills doesn’t mean the end to your dream, it’s just a new path to getting there.

The Job Hunt.
For Shelby Goodman, an early education major, figuring out what to do isn’t the question—finding a job is. As a 21-year-old senior at Illinois State University, Goodman is currently student-teaching and wants to become an elementary school teacher.

“This field is so competitive right now,” said Goodman. “There is a lot of pressure for me to find a job right after college.” Although she has attended job fairs and networked a little bit, Goodman still has doubts about landing a full-time teaching job right after she graduates.