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Monday, March 18, 2024

Seniors share post-grad plans

Graduating seniors discuss their various plans for post graduation

The end of the quarter usually means the start of summer for most students. For graduating seniors, however, the end of Spring Quarter marks the beginning of a new chapter in their lives.

Most seniors’ plans for the future vary case-by-case, from applying to jobs, to taking a gap year to starting work immediately after graduation.

Katelin Hermone, a fourth-year design major, explained that many students applying for jobs in the design field may require extra time to focus on polishing their portfolio.

“At the moment, I’m looking for jobs in entry-level design positions, mostly in the Bay Area,” Hermone said. “If I don’t find a job right away, I really just want to focus on perfecting my portfolio and doing some work on the side, like freelancing. I want my portfolio to be something that I’m really proud of, so I do need to set aside time to get it to be perfect. That way when I do send it out when applying to jobs, I can feel confident in doing so.”

She also touched on her plans for the future —within the next five years, she hopes to attend a graduate school in London and complete a design and photography program there. Hermone said that this will hopefully help her get more jobs post-graduate school.

Stacey Kling, a fourth-year sociology major, detailed her immediate post-grad plans, saying she plans to skirt from the traditional route of full-time work.

“For post-graduation, I’m definitely going take at least one or two gap years before going back to school for higher education,” Kling said. “I’m interested in a teaching program that offers a masters in teaching or education with a teaching credential. Eventually, I believe that I want to become a teacher, probably for a middle school English class. In my gap year, I have to take certain tests — CBEST and CSET — just to apply for the program that I want to get into.”

In addition to spending her gap year applying and studying to prepare for graduate school, Kling hopes to find some type of part-time work. She wants to find a position that’s related to her career aspirations that will help her gain exposure into the field, to take advantage of her skill set.

Kling also noted the importance of taking time for herself in her decision to take a gap year before returning back to an education program.

“When you start working, your amount of free time becomes so limited and I feel like I need that time to be able to do whatever and decompress to do things that I want,” Kling said. “I don’t want to go back to school already burnt out, because then I’d just become even more burnt out and be miserable.”

Another student who has plans for a gap year is Rhegille Baltazar, a fourth-year anthropology and Asian American studies double major. She plans to focus on gaining more experience in the field she hopes to enter one day.

“This year, I plan on getting experience working with youth a little bit more, since I eventually want to become an ethnic studies educator,” Baltazar said. “Right now, I am applying to be part of an internship program which primarily teaches ethnic studies, mainly teaching Filipino studies to elementary, middle and high school students as an after school program in the San Francisco area.”

Baltazar, who also plans on attending graduate school one day, reiterated other students’ concerns over diving directly into higher education upon finishing their undergraduate careers.

“I knew that I couldn’t just go straight into more school,” Baltazar said. “It’s hard. I’m definitely taking this time for myself for at least a year, maybe two. Either way, I know that once I do enter the workforce, I’m in it for life, and I need to take some time to focus on myself first.”

Written by: Alyssa Hada — features@theaggie.org

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