There are plenty of things you should be worrying about as a senior during your fall semester, but finding a job is not one of them. You should be worrying about getting that weird Super Saturday infection everyone is getting, who you are going to take to formals, and the encroaching deadline for that thesis paper. But there is no reason why you should be pulling your hair out because you don't have a job offer. We all have bigger fish to fry.
First of all, we have barely been in school for a month! I have witnessed many of my friends panic almost to the brink of a breakdown because they feel they should be more prepared for the real world. Then I remind them that it is technically still summer and they calm down a bit. With the recent employer expo and several people coming back to school after a summer internship that landed them a job after graduation, it is inevitable that people are freaking the f*** out about having a secure job, but it makes no sense to worry about something like this in SEPTEMBER.
Many people, myself included, have felt an immense pressure because we believe that everyone else has a job except us, and this is a blatant myth. With the exception of a handful of students that were lucky enough to receive offers after a summer internship, the entire senior class is in the same boat. Most seniors don't even know what they want to do yet! So, breathe. You are not alone.
In addition to the stress we put on ourselves by comparing our job search struggle to others' we feel pressure from Bucknell to be avidly applying and interviewing, but this is actually unfair to the school. Our career center set up two employer expos, and encourages us to visit the CDC because the counselors there want to help us. They are not trying to stress us out and push us out into the real world ASAP; they are providing us with opportunities so that we feel more comfortable when the real process of finding a job begins. It is not fair to blame our school's career center and counselors, because they are pretty much the only ones giving us the tools we need to start our journey into adulthood.
Another source of stress is parents. We perceive that the most pressure comes from our parents who expect us to be brain surgeons or Presidents, but in all honesty, they don't care what we do, as long as we are happy. Some of you may be shaking your heads and saying "No, my parents actually want me to be a rocket scientist and they won't love me until I become one," but that is not true. They may be making it seem this way to motivate you, but they love you and will support you regardless of your career path. So if you are truly that worried about disappointing them by not finding a job this fall, sit down with them and let them know how stressed and confused you are and you'll be surprised by how understanding they can be.
Our peers, our institution, and our parents make us feel like we aren't moving fast enough, and that we aren't prepared enough for what lies ahead, but in reality we are our own worst enemies. No one is constantly yelling at you to apply to companies and no one is telling you that you aren't good enough because you didn't get an offer. We do this to ourselves, so give yourself a break!
Our senior year is supposed to be one of the most fun, emotional, and transformative years of our lives, and if we let ourselves get caught up in the future, instead of living in the moment, we won't have any warm senior memories to look back on. I'm not saying you should rip up all your applications and cancel your interviews, I'm only saying that the focus of your life right now should not be a job, internship, or any kind of after-graduation plans. You should be focusing on your friends, yourself, and your happiness, because this may be the last time you can prioritize these things before spring rolls around and the freak-out becomes an all-out apocalypse. Don't feel pressured to go job-hunting now even though you think everyone else is doing it. Enjoy the time you have left with some of the greatest people you will ever meet and stop worrying about your future. Remember that you have more time than you know to find a job that you love and you don't need to find that job right out of school. There are endless options for what you can do with your life and more often than not, things don't go as planned. Stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and remind yourself that senior year just started; don't ruin it by worrying.
