Post-graduation trials and tribulations, an overwhelmingly consistent theme amongst Vandals, often results in illustrious lives after college.
COVID-19 has strengthened the load restings upon students’ shoulders. It’s no easy task to pursue an online degree, coupled with a growing list of extracurriculars and social obligations. A declining job market and fluctuating economy is just the cherry on top of the spoiled cake. Accordingly, students’ concerns for their futures have never been more valid.
University of Idaho student Seth Bowen struggles with the uncertainty of life after school.
“It’s hard when you lay out all the facts,” Bowen said. “Right now, everyone is carrying a lot on their shoulders and it’s easy to feel like you’re not because everyone else is struggling. That’s just where I’m at, riding the struggle bus.”
Despite those struggles student’s aspirations haven’t faltered. That same drive which once compelled them to pursue their dream still exists. Stereotypically, some students say they enjoy their major and are excited about the prospect of working towards a career. But the pressure to find a job with a steady income often overshadows their passion.
“I do enjoy my major, I really do,” Bowen said. “I’m always scared that if I somehow become a physician I will be graduating with my medical doctorate at 27 years old. Where did the ’20s go? I won’t even be able to start my own practice for another three years…It’s intimidating to think I have to work so hard now, to work so hard later, to keep working hard later.”
Other Vandal alumni have experienced their own triumphs and failures pursuing their careers. Founding partner and CEO of 116 & West, an advertising firm based in Boise, Idaho, Edward Moore faced nearly ten years of complications post-grad.
From receiving a job offer as a graduating senior to ending up in an entry-level media sales job, his once prominent life path quickly grew darker than expected. After years of work and a little bit of luck, Moore was able to become heavily involved in a startup advertising firm. He eventually left the business after harboring professional differences with the owner, taking some old clients with him to his new venture at 116 & West.
“It doesn’t take much to remember how nervous I was my senior year and how depressed I was my first year out of school,” Moore said. “There were times I was like ‘I can’t believe I went to 4 5 years of school for this … I, for whatever reason, just kept swimming and doing the right thing.”
This seems to common a theme for post-grads. It’s miraculous when they enter the real world with their career paths aligned.
Even those who initially pursue their career will face some sort of speed bump, such as UI College of Art and Architecture graduate Cinda Lester. Lester is a co-founder of 12/12 Architects based in Downers Grove, Illinois.
“I realized at the firm I was working at, I was never going to do what I wanted to do,” Lester said. “Once I knew I wasn’t happy, I started looking for other firms to work at and my boss said, ‘Cinda this is stupid, you’re never going to be happy working for anybody else, you want to be the boss.’”
Lester quit three weeks later. She only had one project to start her own firm with, had $14 in her savings account and was pregnant with her first child. As she said, “it wasn’t a leap of faith, it was a leap of stupidity.”
Lester and her husband have since completed over 800 projects in 18 years. Clearly, her stupidity paid off. Maybe all it takes to enter a desired career field is. A little bit of passion, luck and stupidity. Though endearing, a certain amount of forethought is required.
Student loans are the biggest deterrents, and for good reason. After accruing a large student debt for earning a degree your passion about, students find themselves unable to find a well-paying job due to a fluctuating economy and a diminished job market, according to The Student Debt Dilemma, a University of California research paper.
The college experience is expensive. Students come to college looking for a fun time to make friends and to leave with a career path in front of them. Without properly balancing that, they may find themselves with no path at all.
UI Computer Science graduate and CEO of Webtide Jesse McConnell realized this early on. According to McConnell, the desire to succeed can’t be overshadowed by the desire to have fun.
“You have to be making decisions that further your goals and going to college just to have a good time is not worth it if you’re taking on debt,” McConnell said. “When you’re 40 years old and you’re looking back at (college) being the best time of your life, I think that’s awfully sad. Not to say it’s not fun doing those things, but you have to do those things responsibly.”
One common string exists in the fabric of these alumni: determination. Each of these UI graduates were determined to succeed. They were determined to get their degree. Determined to find their career paths.
Most of all, they were determined to never look back.
Their hard work, along with a little bit of luck, was worth it. Worth highs and lows of starting a career. The question students must ask themselves now, is if it’s worth it.
“It’s always going to be worth it,” Bowen said. “I’ve shadowed medical professionals, and to be able to help just one person … That opportunity is always going to be worth it.”