As college students, it's in our genes to deny the fact that we will become independent adults after our four years at Miami. Parties and exams will become a thing of the past, replaced with real world jobs and very real bills that need to be paid.              

The thought of finding our first job after graduation is both exciting and terrifying, and generally a topic we prefer to avoid. But it isn’t so easy to deny that reality when campus is teeming with students in suits and resumes in hand.         

Suddenly your inbox is flooded with emails from Career Services. You can’t remember the difference between business casual and business professional. And you’re reaching for the closest paper bag to hyperventilate into.      

Welcome to Career Fair.      

For those who received an internship or job offer: you’re the lucky ones. For the rest of us, here’s why Career Fair has our stomachs in knots.

1.    Resumes: Not only do resumes have to be filled with extracurriculars, a strong GPA, and leadership experience, but all of these also have to fit on a single page. It is hard enough choosing what template to use, let alone deciding which information stays and which gets the boot. You have one page to market yourself and impress recruiters. No pressure.

2.     Lines: If you are nervous about talking to recruiters, don’t worry. You will have plenty of time to replay worst-case scenarios in your head while you wait behind the twenty other people in front of you. Two hours later and you may have only talked to three out of the six companies you are interested in, but at least you became friends with the people waiting next to you.   

3.     The Crowd: It’s a beautiful afternoon in September and you’re dressed head to toe in a black suit. If you’re not sweating by the time you reach the fair, you will be once you maneuver through the hundreds of other suit-clad students. At least this way you can blame your sweating on the heat instead of your nerves.

4.     Layout: The booths, the lines, the sheer amount of people. It is hard not to feel overwhelmed. Even if you look in the booklet it can be difficult to find exactly where each booth is located. After a few laps around Millet, you’ll find what you are looking for. Hopefully. 

5.     Pressure: No matter if you are a senior graduating in the spring or a first-semester freshman, there is always some pressure of getting a job interview or landing the perfect internship. You may not be what they are looking for, which is never a good feeling. Especially when it can feel as if your future depends on it. Nevertheless, life does go on after Career Fair, even if you didn’t snag that interview. You can go back to forgetting about the real world for the time being—until Spring Ice anyway.