University of Dayton - MyLife

Interviews Like Crazy

Today I just realized that after tomorrow I will have had five interviews within the past couple weeks. It's obviously time to be thinking about summer jobs, and that's exactly what I've been doing. My first choice job right now is for the Semester of Service summer program (yes, if you are an avid "MyLife" reader, Allison is currently involved with this program). The summer session is pretty competitive because more students are able to fit this into their schedules. In order to be able to do Semester of Service during a normal semester, you have to have enough credit hours so that you can take off an entire semester of classes.

So, there are currently ten spots available, but eighteen people applying for the summer. The past week we have been interviewing at all the different sites, and hopefully by next week, we'll know if we actually get one of the positions! If so, I'll be living here in Dayton this summer in a house with the rest of the Summer of Service participants. It's a great opportunity to be able to live in community with everyone while we all work at different non-profit agencies. The best part about this interviewing process has been that three of my roommates have also been able to go through this with me. All four of us are applying for different agencies, so it's a bit unnerving to be competing with some of my best friends, but it's still a lot of fun to share our experiences with each other. And if I don't get the job, I have a couple other great opportunities for this summer, as well.

The crazy part is to think that this is potentially my last "normal" summer because next summer I'll be a (dare I say it), "college graduate." I probably shouldn't have just said that, because I feel like that's a very taboo phrase right now. The majority of seniors are still up in the air about their post-graduation plans, and as juniors, we don't want to face the reality that we'll potentially be in the same position soon, too. It wasn't until this year that I realized how different senior year of college is from senior year of high school. In high school, future plans typically include either deciding on where to go to college or entering the workforce. Sure, that can be stressful, but at least it's a little more structured than open-ended post-college graduation plans can become. There are so many options after graduation...will I get a job? If so, how will I find something related to my major that pays well enough to pay off my student loans? Will I do a year or two of service, and if so, where and what would I do? Or will I go to graduate school? This raises more questions of what would I study, where would I study it, and how would I pay for it?

As you can see, this time of the year is not easy for most seniors, not to mention they have to worry about leaving UD, one of the best places on earth. So, if you know anyone who might be going through this stressful time of planning and they seem stressed out...you'll know why. My heart goes out to all college seniors who are still discerning their life plans.

Mar 3, 2008 9:42 PM Permalink