Students look forward to next step in education, and also jobs
Illustration by Max Szyc
Soon-to-be university arts graduates have begun accepting offers for college programs and are further on their way to meaningful employment.
Now that their bachelor degrees are just about in hand, students are saying it’s time to really buckle down and become employable. It’s a transition that could prove difficult for those who never had to look a professor directly in the eye or be educated with a specific and tangible career path in mind.
Claire Parker is a fourth-year student studying art history and Celtic studies. She feels that she worked hard in school but doesn’t think her coffee shop job is allowing her to reach her full potential.
“I mean, Starbucks is alright, I guess—I like to experiment with different compositional elements of art with the foam in the cappuccinos—but I come home from work every day and think about how there’s probably more I can do for a career,” she said.
Spencer Hayes is a fourth-year English student with a minor in philosophy. He said writing various essays on poems authored by knights has been “fun and all,” but that employers are looking to hire graduates with more applicable skills.
“I mean, I could keeping going and get a doctorate or something—become a doctor of English and save people’s lives with my analysis of medieval literature,” Hayes said. “But I figured hey, if I’m going to be paying out my ass for tuition, I might as well learn and contribute something valuable to society.”
Parker was offered admission to an applied museum studies program where she says she’s excited to finally start working toward employment. Hayes said he intends to go to college for professional writing or public relations rather than attending teacher’s college and “sitting around sucking [his] thumb” while waiting for a job opening.
Tristan Ferris is a senior at a local high school who intends to go to college right away.
“I just figured I’d skip the whole formality of university and go straight to college,” he said. “I mean, why waste the four years?”
Ferris said his parents are skeptical of his decision but he believes they will thank him when he graduates and doesn’t come back to live in the bedroom above the garage.
When interviewed about their experiences, soon-to-be engineering and hard sciences graduates laughed and continued to comb through high-paying entry-level job offers.
