For many seniors, now feels like the time to panic. The struggle of where to go and what to do after college can be a difficult one. While for some the path is very clear, for others, there is no definite path in sight - but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Going straight into the working world is a viable option for graduating seniors, according to Director of Career Services Jean Papalia. "Most graduate programs appreciate the additional skills, knowledge and experiences that students bring as a result of time spent in the workforce," she said.
One senior heading right into the job market is Stephanie Cohen, a psychology major and communications minor. "We had a guest lecturer [in my "Introduction to Mass Media and Popular Culture" class] who was the vice president in charge of public relations and marketing at the Oxygen [television] network," Cohen said. "She described her duties and job, and I thought that it was something that I could be really good at. It grabbed my attention."
Cohen hopes next year to find herself in an "entry level position in some entertainment company, in their public relations department. Either that or an internship where I'll make copies and get coffee," she said. "If I do a good job, then they'll ask me to stay on for a year or two."
Unlike Cohen, senior Tammy Savin is heading directly to graduate school. For Savin, an English major and economics minor, the choice so was always clear.
"Law school has always been the plan," Savin said. "I'm in school mode, and if I take a year off it will be harder to get back into. I'm not going to get a decent job for one year."
For some career paths, students feel that graduate school is simply not necessary. Senior Caroline Hockmeyer, a double major in English and Spanish, is interested in the magazine industry and plans to enter the working world immediately. This year, Hockmeyer is interning under the fashion and beauty editor for Improper Bostonian and competing with two other interns for the job of assistant.
"In my industry, graduate school is not required," Hockmeyer said. "So I have to make up for that in experience. If I win this job, it's something I can put on my resume and take anywhere I want to go. They don't want to hire some kid who is just an English major."
Unlike Hockmeyer, many students aren't absolutely certain of the career field for them. Papalia said the best thing for confused seniors to do is to "visit us at Career Services so we can help you on an individual basis." Along with private sessions, Career Services also provides graduate school info sessions and panels, alumni career panels and career and graduate school fairs.
For many Tufts undergraduates, help from Career Services and alumni contacts can help in making important job decisions. "This past summer I worked at Seventeen magazine in New York," Hockmeyer said. "Under the alumni list, I found that a graduate from Tufts was the vice president in publishing at Teen Vogue. She told me all about the business and told me what I am up against in terms of competition."
But even with the help Career Services offers, many seniors still graduate from Tufts not knowing what career they want to pursue. Menina Skelly (LA '05) is now working at a running specialty store called Marathon Sports, as well as at Starbucks.
When Skelly first came to Tufts, she "had plenty of ideas, but they changed constantly."
"How many people come into Tufts wanting to be pre-med?" Skelly said. "I got scared and decided I didn't want to be stressed for the rest of my life."
Although Skelly plans to go to graduate school at some point, she can foresee many other opportunities in her future: "Being a Spanish teacher, coaching lacrosse, being a sports trainer, finding a job that allows me to travel and speak Spanish," she said.
While Savin is going directly to graduate school because she is very "self-driven and goal orientated," others such as Skelly are motivated by the excitement of not knowing.
"I don't know where I want to be in five years, but that is the whole point of what keeps me going," Skelly said. "Right now, I intend to work different jobs, travel, live different places, research graduate schools and programs, talk to as many people as I can, and even use one of the 'What Color is Your Parachute?' books."
While many seniors may be feeling the rush to decide on a future, Skelly believes that it takes time to fully realize what a person wants in life. "It doesn't matter what other people are doing; it's only what you want to do that matters," she said. "Whenever I ask an older peer or someone I admire how they figured out their life, they say that they are still trying to figure it out."
