Loading ...Erin Cochran/Winonan
The scariest three words one could put together at this point in time, as I face my senior year in college are “so what’s next?” How is that even answerable?
The world after college is a scary place. Realizing that I need to become an actual person and a contributing member of society makes me want to run back to my freshman year dorm room.
I mean, one can sort of attempt to begin to answer this seriously daunting question. “I can attempt to find a job in my chosen job market! (Hooray job searching during a recession!) Or, I could end up break dancing for nickels on the light rail! The possibilities!”
All throughout our college years we’re nurtured. Though the grip loosens with each year, there’s always someone or a group to hold your hand throughout the process. Once we loosen that comforting grip—quite literally—after shaking the Dean’s and Chancellor’s hands, that’s it.
What do we do now?! Do we move back home with our parents? Do we move in with significant others? Do we scavenge for quarters in a friend’s couch to get a cup of Ramen or a dollar-menu cheeseburger? Old habits die hard.
Though I, along with all the other seniors at Winona State University will be gambling with this question; part of me knows that everything will be okay. We’re at an advantage already for taking the initiative to partake in the higher educational system. By staying determined and willed enough to even get to this point, we can tackle what comes next.
So who knows, maybe one of us will start a family nine months after graduation; maybe one of us won’t get married until the age of 56; or maybe one of us will drop everything and run away with the circus! But to each their own, and if you have some trapeze skills under your belt, I hope you embrace them!
Yes, the world is a scary place. At the tender age of 18 or 19 we ultimately chose what we will be doing for the rest of our lives. Yet, we have to trust those instincts and work with what we have. We’ve made it this far, Winona State class of 2013—we have far to go, but you want to know what? We can do it and we will. Cue the flying graduation caps and post-graduation photographs with family and friends who supported us through the years.
Contact Erin at [email protected]
