- The Record Archives
- Volume CXVIII, No. XX - November 10, 2005 - opinion
Use what you've gained at CSB/SJU after graduation
Staff writer
I can still remember what it felt like to be moving in at CSB for the first time.
There were so many unfamiliar faces, unvisited places on campus and even new smells that I was not yet accustomed to.
I remember meeting my symposium, gasping for air after going up the stairs in the Quad and learning Link etiquette.
Now, it has occurred to me that this place, which has become my life for the last four years, will no longer be home in just a few months.
The majority of us will pack up and leave St. Joe and some faces we may never see again.
They will disappear into the crowd of black hats and graduation robes in May, or perhaps even sooner than that.
When we moved to CSB/SJU for the first time, it was interesting to see all the different places that everyone came from.
During the past four years, we have been exposed to the same college experiences and opportunities, and yet after graduation, each senior has a different plan of where they will head.
Many will venture to their places of employment, some will marry, a few will go abroad, and I'm sure there will be graduates who go back to their hometowns.
The different lives we lead will continue on and become more different than when we all got here in the first place.
A few of my friends are freaking out.
They know that graduation is inevitably coming, and sooner than later there needs to be a plan.
I start to worry along with them sometimes, even though I try not to.
I have concerns about finding jobs too, and once I get married in June, moving home will be out of the question.
In a covenant circle meeting last week, one of the college staff members mentioned graduation as "a cliff that we all will fall off of in May."
I find this cliff to be a real thing, mostly because of the uncertainty that comes after graduation.
For the past four years, there has been a fairly solid routine in my life — classes and work during the year and summer employment in between.
Now I will be forced to move outside my comfort zone.
Job fairs don't start until spring, and luckily some companies and employers have started looking around already.
I keep remembering everything I heard during my tour five years ago (I will be placed somewhere after graduation), but now that the time is nearing, there is less assurance provided with that statement.
All day long, it seems like seniors are asking each other what their plans are.
One of my friend's answers is my favorite: "I'll be crying. That's the only thing I am absolutely sure of."
She has decided that she wishes she could stay, but if she did, it would only be worth it if everyone else did, too.
We're just wishing that we could know what is going to happen and where we will end up.
After doing all of this thinking, I have come to one conclusion: I am not the same woman that I was when I came into college.
I have grown up in many ways, and every summer it becomes a little more obvious that I have outgrown residency in my parents' home.
Even though I might not know exactly what I am going to do after graduation, I know that I have gotten the best preparation possible by being here.
That gives me some relief.
No matter where you came from before CSB/SJU, I hope that all of the hard classes, enduring friendships and endless other quantities of knowledge you have acquired wil give you some comfort during this senior year as we all struggle to find our paths out of St. Joe.
This is the opinon of Ashley Fruth, a senior political science major at CSB. Contact her at amfruth@csbsju.edu