Spring Break
In case you can't find a job
Nia Richardson
Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: Opinion
"What are you going to do after graduation?" It is the question everyone loves to ask, but hates to answer. The reality of graduating is starting to hover around like an unwanted shadow.
The days of grabbing credits to meet degree requirements are coming to an end. Now, everyone expects to hear that you have your whole life planned out for the next 30 years: a job, spouse, kids and a house. Well, not really, but sometimes that's what it feels like.
News reports say college students are graduating at the worst time ever. Graduate schools are becoming more competitive and companies having to lay off thousands can start to wear on anyone's morale. However, there are those out there who refuse to give up so easily.
Over the past few years, organizations like AmeriCorps, Reach to Teach, the California Conservation Corps and other non-profits have had more applicants than ever, due partially to the bad economy, but also to many people taking control of their lives by trying an unconventional path.
More college graduates are opting to put starting a career and family on hold to experience life other ways. This is has led to some volunteering their time abroad or domestically, enhancing skills they already have and developing new ones. Others are choosing to join the Foreign Service and promote diplomacy policies around the world.
The benefit of working under non-profits or non-governmental organizations is that normally they are not permanent career commitments. For instance, the Teach for America organization places college graduates in urban schools across the country, requires a two-year commitment, after which most of its graduates go on to pursue other careers.
Some organizations such as the Peace Corps give you the option of serving and attending graduate school at the same time.
Many of the places graduates work and serve are impacted by the presence of energetic young people who want to make a difference. A recent article published in the Christian Science Monitor highlighted the fact that many baby boomers are reentering the workforce and do not make up such a large number of community volunteers and organizers as in previous years. That is where college students and graduates step in to fill in the gaps. Many of the volunteers go on to become community leaders.
For some who have reached that fork in the road and are looking for direction or others who just want to give back, there are alternative paths to a meaningful career that we all hope to have.
There is an abundance of information on Web sites such and idealist.org and volunteermatch.com for those looking to do more.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.
The days of grabbing credits to meet degree requirements are coming to an end. Now, everyone expects to hear that you have your whole life planned out for the next 30 years: a job, spouse, kids and a house. Well, not really, but sometimes that's what it feels like.
News reports say college students are graduating at the worst time ever. Graduate schools are becoming more competitive and companies having to lay off thousands can start to wear on anyone's morale. However, there are those out there who refuse to give up so easily.
Over the past few years, organizations like AmeriCorps, Reach to Teach, the California Conservation Corps and other non-profits have had more applicants than ever, due partially to the bad economy, but also to many people taking control of their lives by trying an unconventional path.
More college graduates are opting to put starting a career and family on hold to experience life other ways. This is has led to some volunteering their time abroad or domestically, enhancing skills they already have and developing new ones. Others are choosing to join the Foreign Service and promote diplomacy policies around the world.
The benefit of working under non-profits or non-governmental organizations is that normally they are not permanent career commitments. For instance, the Teach for America organization places college graduates in urban schools across the country, requires a two-year commitment, after which most of its graduates go on to pursue other careers.
Some organizations such as the Peace Corps give you the option of serving and attending graduate school at the same time.
Many of the places graduates work and serve are impacted by the presence of energetic young people who want to make a difference. A recent article published in the Christian Science Monitor highlighted the fact that many baby boomers are reentering the workforce and do not make up such a large number of community volunteers and organizers as in previous years. That is where college students and graduates step in to fill in the gaps. Many of the volunteers go on to become community leaders.
For some who have reached that fork in the road and are looking for direction or others who just want to give back, there are alternative paths to a meaningful career that we all hope to have.
There is an abundance of information on Web sites such and idealist.org and volunteermatch.com for those looking to do more.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.
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