On one side of the boxing ring stands “Scared to Death,” a well-oiled youngster wearing a cap and gown. On the other, at an impossible height looms “The Economy,” ready to fight and resist its’ opponent. In the eyes of our frustrated youth, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education and 16 years in a classroom just doesn’t cut it anymore.
After walking across the stage during commencement, many graduates are bee lining straight for a paycheck and hitting a brick wall. Some will live at home, some will work part-time, and some will work unpaid internship after unpaid internship in hopes of making connections.
Sure, the economy is inhospitable to the amount of graduates looking for work, but are graduates today simply receiving less in return for their craft or are their expectations irrationally high?
Kim Healy, a part-time faculty instructor of sociology at Quinnipiac University teaches four courses; one is Sociology of Work. Healy finds that the pressures put on graduates today are higher than they once were. Between parents and what society deems is appropriate career ambition; students are becoming unhealthily anxious, she said.
“I think there is a lot of pressure on people to do well in every aspect of their lives and you just can’t separate that from the pressure of having to find a job.”
To some, graduation day is the start of a new beginning. To others, it is Armageddon. Healy’s advice may bring an anxiety-ridden senior back to earth. After all of the technical information she teaches on the working world, she ultimately recommends following one’s heart.
“I know it’s important to make your parents happy and to find a career track, she said. “But you need to have fun too and make sure you’re doing the right thing. You’re not a failure if you don’t get a job right away.”
Once upon a time, students were focused more on family than career. When Healy graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1978, women’s careers were often placed on the backburner. “It was more who are you gonna marry and when are you gonna have kids,” she said.
Healy is thankful she made it through and even happier she went back to school after she had her last child. In her lectures, she offers a unique approach to her graduating seniors after surviving school as a woman in the 70’s and recently surviving cancer. She will be honored this Monday at 6 p.m. during a gathering of faculty and students at Faculty Dessert, held by the Greek community on campus.