Making the transition from college life into the real world can be difficult, but four Tufts alumni who graduated last year seem to be doing very well. Josh Belkin, Lisa Fishlin, Mitchell Lunn and Mirette Kouchouk (all LA '05) took time to talk to the Daily about their experiences in the year since their graduation
According to these alumni, one of the biggest challenges in transitioning from college life to the real world is the change in work schedule. The daily and weekly work routine is a far cry from the sporadic class times and late-night studying that most college students experience.
Belkin, who is currently working at an investment consulting firm in downtown Boston, has certainly noticed the difference. "I get up a lot earlier, go to bed much earlier, and have less homework," he said. "The nice thing is that weekends are work-free, usually, and you can take a few days off whenever you feel you need it - you don't have to wait for winter or spring break."
Lunn, now a staff molecular biologist at Columbia University in New York, said she was very pleased by his new after-work schedule. "Probably the biggest and best change is that I don't have anything that I 'must' do when I get home from work - no homework!" he said.
Still, other graduates encounter a different problem of having too much to do in too little time. Fishlin, an Americorps VISTA Site Coordinator for National Student Partnership (NSP)-Somerville, said she has had some difficulty balancing all of her responsibilities.
"It's difficult to balance everything that I want to do after work and still get to bed early enough to get up for work the next day," she said. "It's hard to make decisions relating to work and grad school plans. I feel like it's the first time in my life when the options I am deciding between are so different from each other."
The new predictability of life has been a welcome consequence of the entrance into the working world for Kouchouk, a market research consultant in Boston. "I know that I'll be right here in the office for 10 hours everyday for a long time," she said. "It's strange not having any three-month vacations in sight, but on the plus side, I don't have to do the job [or] internship search anymore."
Kouchouk, Fishlin and Belkin are still living and working in the Boston area. Belkin is now situated in Brookline, which is just across the river from Tufts. "It's a great place to live, and it's very close to the city, but the green line is super slow compared to the red line," he said.
Belkin also realized that Brookline has its advantages for Tufts graduates nostalgic for student life. "The good news is Soundbites is still a close drive away, and we have two Anna's Taquerias in Brookline, so all the staples of Tufts eats are still accessible," he said.
These Tufts graduates are all currently enjoying their diverse lines of work. Lunn loves his work as a molecular biologist: "I study a rare, pediatric disease called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)," he said. "My laboratory looks for ways to increase production of a certain protein that SMA patients don't make enough of using thousands of small molecules."
Fishlin also loves her position as the Americorps VISTA Site Coordinator for NSP-Somerville, a student run organization that works with homeless and low-income clients. "I support 30 student volunteers and conduct client service," she said. "Since I am working in the Somerville office, I still work with Tufts students."
"Because I'm the only full-time staff person, I've had the opportunity to wear so many different hats," she added. "Every day brings a new challenge."
Kouchouk was nervous and excited about entering the working world, but luckily she found a job that was a good fit. "The trick is to find a job where you love the environment, even if not the actual work," she said. "That way you can feel like you're with friends around the clock while you're working, just like it was in college."
Senior Week is a special time for Tufts seniors, and these graduates remember it well. Fishlin was particularly moved by the activities the night before graduation. "The candle lighting ceremony was a great time to see everyone and it really did bring me right back to freshman orientation," she said. "It was beautiful to see all of the candles walking up the library steps."
Belkin remembers Senior Week as the defining culmination of his college career. "It's a surreal feeling sitting there on the quad and realizing this is the end of college," he said. "I'll always remember sitting with my friends, realizing that the real world was only a day away."
One year after graduation, many alumni still find themselves missing Tufts and college life in general. "I miss the people," Lunn said. "Tufts was such a great place to make lasting friendships with students, faculty and staff. Sometimes it's hard walking through midtown Manhattan and not recognizing anyone."
These graduates miss the sense of community they had at Tufts, which is often lacking in their professional lives. "At Tufts you can walk around and see dozens of people a day you know, and there is always something going on at all hours to do," Belkin said. "In the real world, it's much harder to find that, and you have to make more of an effort to find something to do on a weekend."
Although many Tufts graduates live thousands of miles away from each other, they still make an effort to visit their college friends on a regular basis. Unfortunately, Kouchouk noticed that "the trips are just a little shorter than when we had three weeks off during the school year."
Fishlin has kept in touch with her five roommates from senior year, as well as many other friends. "Right now, I'm living with three friends from Tufts, and I have visited friends that live in New York and [Washington] D.C.," she said. "My friends who are in New York and D.C. also come to Boston a lot, especially since there are many people from Tufts still living in the area."
In the next few years, many '04 Tufts graduates will be beginning graduate school. Lunn is moving to California in the fall to attend the Stanford University School of Medicine in pursuit of an M.D. and a Ph.D. Belkin plans to go to business school to earn an MBA after a few more years of work experience.
Fishlin wants to move to another city and work for two to three more years before going to back to school, and Kouchouk wants to continue working and taking grad school classes at night.
Kouchouk also offered advice to graduating seniors worried about entering the real world. "I don't think people should plan on staying at one job for five years after graduation," she said. "You should take advantage of being young and use it to find what you really want to do for the long term."
