Now that the semester is over and we’ve had to trade in our Tom & Marty’s mugs for regular hours and summer jobs, the bubble of college is beginning to pop and the real world is trickling in.
When classes and exams take up half our time and the rest is otherwise occupied, it’s easy to forget that we won’t be able to spend our lives pleasantly drinking ourselves into a stupor with few distractions. Ready or not, at the end of four years we’ll be ejected into reality and forced to deal with it. And while the beauty of college is that you can postpone that moment, it doesn’t mean that ignoring the world is the way to go.
If you can keep that fact in the periphery of your mind, it may make the inevitable reality check a little less painful, not to mention give you an edge in today’s economy.
College is all a big balancing act — balancing different classes with extracurricular activities, and adding a social life somewhere in the mix. But with the state of the current economy and the dim job market, we think students today need to juggle one more element: prospective career searching.
Sure, you’re probably thinking that’s what college is all about. But we know how easy it is to get wrapped up in just hanging out with friends and fulfilling requirements for your major, all the while putting that career goal on the back burner. Falling into the trap is easy, and dangerous, because undergraduates need to make the most of their years. No one wants to be wondering, “What now?” as they move their tassels to the left.
There’s a common denominator in most of the people asking that question on graduation day, and that’s the fact that they haven’t found something they’re passionate about yet. It’s important to do enough internships, participate in lots of extracurricular activities, and talk to professor upon professor, hopefully in varying fields, to find out what interests you and what doesn’t. That way you won’t be bouncing from one meaningless, minimum wage-paying job to the next after college, because you’ll have already felt it out as an undergrad.
So just remember, as you frequent frat parties and traipse along State Street, to give some thought to the fast-approaching future. We’re not saying you’re guaranteed to find your dream career at the end of four years, but isn’t it worth a try?