Slumping Senior Advice

Dear CRCers: 

Earlier this semester I read about the new Pathways program for second-semester freshmen, and your advice for sophomores feeling slumpy; I need the senior version!  This year has been rough--one foot in the door, one foot out; I'm still looking for a job; I've applied for a bunch of fellowships that I didn't get; I have so much academic work to do in between now and graduation, and spending time with friends seems to be in short supply.

Signed, Not Ready Yet

Dani Pendergast / NPR

Graduating Seniors, this is arguably the biggest transition of your life--one of your primary identifiers, being a student from one year to the next, is nearing an end for many of you (even if you may go back to graduate/professional school in the future).  The "real-life" decisions in the hopper--applying for jobs, deciding where to relocate to, figuring out how to budget for expenses like student loans and health insurance if you're not covered--all while you're trying to "enjoy" your last semester of college, are HUGE.

One day at a time. Your time as a college student is finite, which is a good thing, right? Dean Julie Lee from Academic Support Services, who has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology, said that even happy events when they signal a significant change are stressful.

For those of you feeling bad about not having a job yet, CareerLAB Senior Surveys over the past few years confirm that by May graduation, about 50% of respondents did not yet know what they were doing post-graduation--many were still looking for a job after Commencement. (Most had a plan within a year.)

If you don't have a résumé or need to update yours, think of the résumé as a reflective exercise in which you take stock of your time in college. If this feels too performative, then perhaps meet with a mentor or advisor for coffee, or take an afternoon to write out some answers to the following questions:

• How would I describe myself when I was a first-year? How would I describe myself now?

• What is one accomplishment that I am particularly proud of, and why?

• What am I grateful to have experienced during the past few years?

• If I'm focused on a regret--what is it, and why I am so focused on it?

• What am I nervous about facing after I graduate? Is there something I can do now to work through how I feel about this?

• Who is one person I want to write a thank you note to, and what would be the main point I want to convey to them?

We'll leave you with a quote from the Tortoise in Kung Fu Panda: "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a special gift--that's why it's called the Present."

---

Alum CRCer Arthur Matuszewski '11 says:

Focus on being somebody - there's an infinite range of things you can do, but likely only one type of person you want to be.

In college, the world after feels too much and too complex, this feeling doesn't magically go away the morning after graduation. There will always be more that you won't know vs. that you will know ergo it's oftentimes easier to begin your discovery with what you know best, yourself.

What do you find yourself thinking about absentmindedly? What do you read, watch or listen to obsessively? Focus on turning your compulsion into opportunity - this doesn't mean focusing on some ambiguous 'passion', but about turning what you're doing already into areas to explore further.

Think of your post-college journey as learning and structure your conversations, interviews etc. as a series of productive experiments; does it feel right to scratch this itch? Will this afford me the lifestyle I want? Are these the types of people I'd want to be?

Arthur concentrated in Africana Studies and graduated in 2011; he designed eight GISPs and was the CRC GISP Coordinator for two years. He lives in NYC and works in the field of innovation.

---

CRC alum Paige Morris '16:

The undergraduate years go by so much faster than almost anyone is prepared for, and it's completely warranted to find yourself in the middle of commencement preparations feeling like you're having an out-of-body experience. I remember feeling as though I'd been tunneling straight through the semesters on a high-speed train. Yet when I could see the end approaching, it became more urgent for me to slow down, to reflect on where I was, how I'd gotten there, and where I was headed. Senior year is magical in that way. We can suddenly appreciate the small things and the sentimentality that is suddenly everywhere, those last meals at the dining halls or the final Unit Wars. Try to be as present as you can be in these moments. The future won't collapse while you engage in the now.

I know this is easier to say as a mantra than to believe! But I was there. I was one of those seniors still sending out résumés and cover letters to low-paid internship programs in March while some of my closest friends had already decided on prestigious Ph.D. programs or else had long ago cinched some lucrative job in New York or D.C. I was thrilled for them, of course, but I also grew more anxious for myself. Sometimes I wished I could have the same exact successes--never mind the fact that I had completely different interests and goals. For so many students, especially first-generation college students and students from low-income families, planning for a post-Brown future can involve so many additional pressures--financial stability, familial obligation, and perhaps most dauntingly, the extreme (and often unrealistic) expectations we have come to place on ourselves. I managed these anxieties by learning to take ownership of my future.

Instead of holding my situation up to my peers' or even to my own warped expectations of what a post-Brown life should be, I decided to be completely honest with myself by asking:

• What do you need to do for your survival? (Do you need a job immediately after graduation in order to survive? What expenses will you need to cover? Are you anxious about not being able to find work at all or not being able to find work in a specific field or with a certain degree of status right away?)

• Who are you doing this for? (Whether you are making plans independently or whether you're mapping out a future with your family or certain communities in mind, that's important to note and can help determine where you might start looking for opportunities.)

• What would you do if rejection were not an option? (If you faced rejection from a job you really wanted or a fellowship you applied for, what do you think you need to learn or do before you apply again? How can you use your last days and your post-Brown time to bring yourself closer to that goal?)

• What impact do you want to have in your communities and in the world? (And how can you start creating that impact, with or without a formal job lined up?)

We enter and leave Brown with a range of experiences and outlooks. I think the goal isn't to leave with a masterfully-detailed plan for your life, but with a better understanding of yourself and your goals, and thus the ability to create and modify your own future one day at a time!

Paige graduated last May as a double concentrator in Ethnic Studies and Literary Arts; she did a GISP on Korean Pop Culture and was the (G)ISP Co-Coordinator during her senior year. She is currently in South Korea on a Fulbright.