My Fears after College Graduation

Senior Farewell

By Leonard Smith

Anxiety, confusion and excitement are feelings and emotions I experience every day when I think about life after graduating this May from Bowie State University. Everyone knows how bad the economy has become and some experts have said it could get worse before it gets better. Every day I am reminded that life after graduation will not be easy. My main concerns are getting into a graduate school, finding a career after graduation that will substantially support me, being able to afford healthcare, and feeling the emotional and financial stress of being far away from home.

These issues are reminding me that there is no time for loose ends and/or poor time management. I desire to enter and complete a graduate program because I feel that I will be more marketable in my field of study, communications. But with the current state of the economy, I fear whether a graduate program will help me to gain a better job or whether I am trying to avoid facing the real world head on. Also, I am concerned that a graduate program will be much more competitive than it would be in a healthy economy because more working professionals are opting to go back to school to pursue higher education so they can become more marketable within their fields. Will these professionals who have more work experience take jobs that would normally go to me or other recent college graduates like me? Without a good job, how will I support myself financially and obtain healthcare; now as an undergraduate student, my university provides healthcare services. It scares me that I might have to take a job that I may not want or like. But I realize that I may have to do just that in order to survive.

My social sanity is also very important. I am very concerned about having been away from my home in California for three years. Because gas and other travel costs are at an all-time high, I am not able to travel home to the West Coast as I would like to and as a result I feel that I am losing the connection to my immediate family that I was so adjusted to while living near home. I believe that family as a support system plays a major role in my success.

With all of my concerns, I am still excited about crossing this major milestone after graduation despite my anxiety and confusion. I know that I will experience many changes, some I will welcome and some I will not, throughout the rest of my life.