Graduation. The big day came full of excitement and anticipation of walking across that stage and recieving my degree I've worked so hard for. And then the big day came to a close, and now I start my first week as a college graduate. The meaning of "graduation" is starting to settle in now that the pomp and circumstance is over. I've had some time to reflect and think about what this really means.
I realized I'll never attend Northern Michigan University as a student again (duh. but full meanings can be slow to hit me). This is a very weird feeling becuase NMU is a place that I've called "home", and having to say goodbye is a little heartbreaking. Not only am I saying goodbye to my school, but my friends and professors who have impacted me in a positive way. I am also saying goodbye to an era in my life. But I am also saying hello to a new one.
Despite these sad, nostalgic feelings, I am excited. Excited to have my degree in hand and show what I can do, and what I am capable of. I think that's the hardest part about graduating. You have to find that confidence and say, "I can do this." Life has never been more unnerving, because I do not know what will come next. But whatever does, I am ready to welcome the challenges, the upsets, the victories, and just the every-day happenings.
So, here I am. A fresh college graduate who's naive small town raising may not have prepared me for what is to come next in the vast, experienced world. But I know I am willing to take on whatever intercepts my path, welcoming it with open arms and ready to live this new chapter in my life.
Congrats to all the gradutes of 2010. Goodbye to the college life. And hello to this wonderful world
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
College Grads: Consider a “Gap Year”
College Grads: Consider a “Gap Year”
For all the graduates this year, this is a good piece of advice. Many of us, including myself, are worried. Worried about finding a job, making money to pay off those loans, buying a car, moving to a new city, moving on in life. When I talk with my friends who are also graduating, this worries are usually on the conversation list. Especially for the graduating PR students.
To be in public relations, one has to be a planner. You've got to be a person who thinks ahead and analyzes rewards and consequences. At NMU, being "proactive" rather than "reactive" has been stressed to the PR students, which really goes without saying since its already part of our personalities anyway. So for group of planners and proactive college grads entering the world, we have been halted in our tracks.
I do not know exactly what I am doing this summer. For the first time in my life, I do not have some kind of plan. I would love to land a job or internship right away, but I realize this might not happen as soon as I would like. And my fellow NMU PR graduates feel the same way. So what to do? Well, Ron Culp has given me and my peers one of the best tips any of us have received. Take some time off.
Traveling is the only way a person can experience exactly what is out there. The cultures, the people, the music, the smells, the landscapes...all of this can be read about it a book, but to actually experience these things is something completely different. I know I want to work a great job that I'm passionate for, but I think college graduates entering the world need to remember (and what Mr. Culp is trying to tell us): It's a job.
So, thank you Mr. Culp for the advice, because I know many college grads who will find it helpful.
For all the graduates this year, this is a good piece of advice. Many of us, including myself, are worried. Worried about finding a job, making money to pay off those loans, buying a car, moving to a new city, moving on in life. When I talk with my friends who are also graduating, this worries are usually on the conversation list. Especially for the graduating PR students.
To be in public relations, one has to be a planner. You've got to be a person who thinks ahead and analyzes rewards and consequences. At NMU, being "proactive" rather than "reactive" has been stressed to the PR students, which really goes without saying since its already part of our personalities anyway. So for group of planners and proactive college grads entering the world, we have been halted in our tracks.
I do not know exactly what I am doing this summer. For the first time in my life, I do not have some kind of plan. I would love to land a job or internship right away, but I realize this might not happen as soon as I would like. And my fellow NMU PR graduates feel the same way. So what to do? Well, Ron Culp has given me and my peers one of the best tips any of us have received. Take some time off.
Traveling is the only way a person can experience exactly what is out there. The cultures, the people, the music, the smells, the landscapes...all of this can be read about it a book, but to actually experience these things is something completely different. I know I want to work a great job that I'm passionate for, but I think college graduates entering the world need to remember (and what Mr. Culp is trying to tell us): It's a job.
So, thank you Mr. Culp for the advice, because I know many college grads who will find it helpful.
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