With spring semester coming to a close, the biggest worry on everyone's mind right now is finals. However, I just enrolled in classes for Fall semester of senior year, and that seems to be a lot more important to me, than the tests that are just two weeks away.
As my last year of college gets closer and closer, there seems to be a few common concerns I've observed among my friends graduating this May, concerns that are making their way to the front of my mind, and I'm sure that others can relate.
I have HOW many hours left?
No matter how heavy the workload seems to be every semester, there are always more hours waiting to be completed. They creep up on you, waiting to bog down your last year with the classes you forgot, once you made it to the major courses that you were actually interested in. And on that note...
Do I seriously have to take US History?
Yes, I know most people got this one out of the way early on, but by the time I started taking the courses that actually pertained to my degree, this gen-ed was left behind, and now I have to complete the long forgotten lower division history credit.
Are people even hiring anymore?
I've noticed a pattern with my friends who are graduating now, and that is, they either use their connections or previous internships to have a job secured by the end of fall or early spring, or they are still scrambling to send their resumes to anyone and everyone with an inbox. The job climate is obviously a mess, and no matter how impressive your credentials may be, the sad truth is that a lot of impressive people aren't getting the impressive jobs, because they haven't spent enough time networking.
Should I be focusing more on the job hunt than school?
With so many jobs being found through the means of making connections, the final school requirements (most of which are gen eds) seem less important than keeping my LinkedIn updated, or going to job fairs and networking activities. While I'm not encouraging anyone to let their grades suffer, because we are here to learn in the first place, the real world is out there, and waiting, and if you don't take the time to meet the people who might offer you jobs early on, by the time you start hunting, you could be months behind others who will get the job you might deserve, because they started networking sooner.
Will I ever be able to survive on a real world schedule?
Adjusting to college life was not hard, with late wake-ups, and even later nights doing homework. I've definitely become a night owl, with classes starting far past noon and assignments starting around ten or later. I've learned to function at night and I've gotten used to wearing no makeup, a t-shirt, and shorts regularly. Yet soon, I will most likely be expected to wake up in the morning *shudder* and wear something professional, AND do my hair and makeup. I have no qualms about the actual work any future job might entail, but I do have a serious fear of the amount of effort and schedule adjustment, that going to the office requires.
Will anyone understand me like my college friends do?
I know now that my friend group will be split across the country. Heck, some are already graduating this May to go off into the real world, and leave good ole Norman behind. Do people really stay in touch? Will new friends in the new location I end up in ever know me as well as the people who stuck by my side, while I struggled through semester after semester? One can only hope that people in the real world don't take life too seriously, otherwise the transition from fun-loving to work-loving may be a rough one.
While all of these concerns will be fresh in my mind during senior year, I still can't wait to see what life after college is really going to be like. While going to university is a taste of independence after high school, the real deal is coming soon, job and all, and as long as people view it as the next adventure, we might just succeed. Why let college be the best years of our lives? I don't understand why people use this phrase, when there's so much ahead of us, and so much more that we can do, and experience, and enjoy. Don't let the end of college be the end of enjoying life to the fullest.
