Transitioning: What to prepare for after graduation

When I first started my undergraduate degree at Carleton University, graduation day seemed unimaginably far away. Now that I’m in the spring of my final year, I can’t believe how fast the time has gone!

I’m incredibly grateful to have been offered so many amazing opportunities to get involved with campus life, to be exposed to new ideas, and to meet new people here at Carleton. Looking back over my time here, I realize that seizing every opportunity available was the best thing that I could have done.

In less than 2 months, I will be graduating and this degree will be officially in the books, yet it doesn’t even feel like it’s been 6 months since I began! While the thought of finally having this degree completed is exciting, it comes with a lot of huge transitions.For me and my friends who are moving on to professional and graduate schools in the fall, it means transitioning to an increased workload. It also means having to manage this increased workload while also being entrusted with greater independence and higher expectations for self-motivation and self-directed study. It means learning more about something that fascinates you, but at a steep cost in terms of both time and tuition.

For me and my friends who are moving on to professional and graduate schools in the fall, it means transitioning to an increased workload. It also means having to manage this increased workload while also being entrusted with greater independence and higher expectations for self-motivation and self-directed study. It means learning more about something that fascinates you, but at a steep cost in terms of both time and tuition.

For my friends who are moving into the workforce, graduating from being a student to being a young professional means transitioning from an environment surrounded by people of a similar age group and stage in life to being part of a team that may span across multiple generations, professions, and backgrounds. It means transitioning from the frequent, concrete feedback of tests, assignments, and midterms to much more infrequent and nebulous feedback in the form of occasional supervisor comments and yearly reviews. Instead of constantly learning new material and moving on to new projects, the job’s tasks may be surprisingly repetitive. And then there is the stark contrast of being done work for the day when you clock out – unlike the student lifestyle, where there is always another paper to read, another assignment to start, and another test to study for. For those who are used to the constant hustle of school, this can be a jarring change.

Thankfully, my two years as a peer helper with Career Services and the past three years that I have spent as a part of the vibrant Carleton community have given me the tools and confidence to transition to the next stage in life knowing that wherever my path may take me, I have the tools to succeed. Regardless of where we’re headed. We’ve made it this far, and that’s an accomplishment that we’ll always have (along with countless great memories, random Carleton swag, and a few wonderful friends). Here’s to us, class of 2017!