For many college students, the question that we dread the most when the topic of graduating comes up is, “Do you know what your plans are after you graduate?”
We usually follow up on that question with an awkward look and an answer full of uncertainty because, to be honest, we don’t know what direction we are headed in.
Most of us already know that we are going to come back to school in a year or two to further our education and some of us are probably going to come up empty-handed in the job search and end up working in a field that is not related to our degree. A good portion of us ends up working in the field of our choice. At the end of the day, it is okay that we don’t have everything figured out yet.
An American writer, Joseph Campbell, once said, “If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.”
Personally, I am graduating in December and if someone were to ask me what I planned on doing after college last month, I had no clear answer yet. Fast forward to now, I still am not sure but I have some ideas of what I want to do next.
I am a journalism major and political science minor who really wants to do local and political reporting at the moment. I have really supportive professors who have pushed me to apply to internships recently. If I happen to get an internship (fingers-crossed) with a specific publication, I could build on my skills and get offers for jobs which is great.
I know that once I graduate, while I will be happy to be done, I also that there’s going to be this void. I was one of those people that did not take a gap year or a semester off, so I’ve been in school every year since Kindergarten. It’s definitely going to be a big culture shock for me because being a student has been a part of my identity for almost 17 years.
I know that I either want to get a job in the field for a few years and go back for another degree or try law school. During the summer I started entertaining the idea of going to law school because I am interested in law and court rulings. That is probably because I’m nosy and love knowing other people’s business. With journalism, you can’t escape politics and law so in my head I think if I know as much as there is to know about the law, that can be beneficial to my future.
As you can see, I have no idea where my future stands after I walk across the stage in December and I am surprisingly not scared about it. I know that I have done well in building my resume while I was in school so I am prepared for whatever awaits me.