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Sick and tired of older adults telling you, "Just wait till you graduate and join us in the "real world." So what's up with this so-called real world, this supposed death sentence that our parents keep warning us about? Are we all doomed? Should we secure our fate as professional students, work toward multiple degrees, safely cloaked in the world of academia?
Well, if you genuinely want to become a college professor or a high school librarian, I say, "Cool." But if you're using school as an excuse to hide out from the miseries of the "real world," there is hope! You can graduate into a real world of possibilities. Life doesn't have to be a death sentence when you choose to follow the path that only you can walk, the path only you can carve for Y-O-U, the path paved with joy and purpose.
Campus Calm had the opportunity to chat with Colin Casey, a new college graduate living life in the "real world" on his own terms.
Campus Calm: Tell me a little bit about yourself. How old are you? Where did you go to college? Major? Interest?
Colin: I have lived in Buffalo, New York my entire life, all 22 years. I love my city and plan to settle down here eventually, but I definitely wanted to get out for college. My dreams of going to California or New York City for school were shattered by some serious procrastinating in the college application process, and a few other unfortunate mishaps along the way. A last minute decision landed me at Canisius College in Buffalo, a relatively small private school located pretty close to the downtown area.
I never knew exactly in what I wanted to concentrate my studies, so I more or less filled in the bubble next to "Pre-Med: Biochem" on a whim. I excelled in science and knew that if I wanted to get ahead in pre-med, I could. As it turned out, the course load wasn't the problem in my first semester. I finished with straight B's, but couldn't help noticing the freak-out factor of my classmates at getting anything from B's to C-'s. These kids had wanted to be doctor's their entire lives, and here I was cruising right with them without joining their late night study sessions or support groups. Disillusioned with the idea of being in this pre-med atmosphere for the next decade of my life, I decided to change gears.
I wanted to be an engineer, I decided, after remembering how interesting AP Physics class was. The University at Buffalo had a reputable engineering program, so I decided to take some physics classes during my final semester at Canisius and transfer the next fall. I lasted one semester in the engineering program, once again out of place, once again not because of grades or course load. If you're like me, you have to keep interest in something in order to excel. After a semester trying out a hodgepodge of classes from anthropology to communication, I settled on history and fell in love.
Campus Calm: So you started at Canisius College pre-med, transferred to the University at Buffalo for engineering and graduated with a history degree! So many students stress over finding that 'perfect' major, believing that it defines who they are and what they can do for the rest of their lives. You shopped majors, what finally made you decide on history?
Colin: I never really enjoyed history in high school. I don't think anyone does. I read the book "Homage to Catalonia" by George Orwell after my sophomore year of college. I think it is a fantastic first hand account of the Spanish Civil War, an event not many people know anything about. The history interested me so much because everything was so fresh to me. Many of the classes I took over the next few years circumvented the ideals surrounding the war and I was able to develop some sort of direction in my studies.
Campus Calm: Were your parents/loved ones cool with your choice of majoring in history? Did you ever get slack about shopping majors?
Colin: "So you want to teach?" Anyone out there who is earning or has earned their degree in English, history, or any other of the humanities knows the dread associated with this question. There's something about learning of the ancient Greeks and reading the poetry of Keats that transcends all the other muck that is thrown at us throughout our lives in the classroom.
"There's no future in History." That's another one I heard. I would recommend everyone to study history in school, though. It is such a holistic education - the world is literally laid out in front of you, from the dark ages to the present. You don't only learn dates and names of kings. You read the best speeches ever written. You delve into the financial turmoil from centuries ago and the diplomacy required balancing the powers of the world in the seventeenth century. I am a better writer, reader, and creative thinker because of my education in history. These skills translate to a much broader employment landscape than the ability to crunch numbers for an accounting firm, and to me, are much more rewarding.
My advice for those struggling with choosing a major is that there is no hurry (although the institution makes you think otherwise and has a certain power to make this true). Also, don't get too caught up in your decision because you can do anything you want in grad school. I've heard of communication majors going to med school and pre-med majors becoming architects.
Campus Calm: What top three thoughts were going through your head on graduation day?
Colin: How long is this ceremony going to last.......................
I think I looked around and realized how many of us there were. Not only the entire number of graduating students (thousands), but a couple hundred history degrees, a couple hundred communication degrees. To tell you the truth I was thinking about jobs. Surely all these history students were not going to find jobs teaching (not that they all wanted to). Even if I were to be part of the accounting department's graduation, I would have felt the same way.
This economy isn't providing the jobs everyone was so accustomed to there being a decade or two ago. Hopefully we can change the world and CREATE the jobs for each other. For example, green energy. Not only would we be helping the environment, but also dramatic infrastructure changes to the energy grid would take a lot of work and provide millions of jobs. It's not as easy to just get a degree and waltz into a profession as it used to be.
Campus Calm: I hear you're planning a European adventure for four months. That sounds exciting! Where are you going?
Colin: Where am I NOT going is the real question. After landing in Dublin I'll head through almost all of continental Europe with nothing but a backpack for four months.
Campus Calm: What made you decide to hit the road and how did you pull it off financially?
Colin: I had always dreamed of going to Europe, particularly Spain. My aspirations to study abroad while in school were hindered by poor grades and a missed semester, allowing me even less time to catch up to the minimum GPA. I vowed to myself to just finish out my degree in Buffalo, then to travel on my own terms. After graduation, I started working as an insurance adjuster. The money earned from this god-awful-boring nine-to-five coupled with bartending a few nights a week enabled me to save up enough to travel at a comfort level at least one notch above "vagrant." Of course, it is impossible to foresee everything that may happen on the road and how much everything will cost, but isn't that part of the adventure?
Campus Calm: Name a few goals you have as a recent college graduate.
Colin: I want to see the world. Reading history books for two years really makes you want to go out to see, smell, and taste those places. My trip this summer is only step one of a larger plan that includes seeing South America, Africa, and Asia before I settle down. I hope to share my experiences with the world and ideally be paid for it. I feel there is no better education than accustoming yourself to a new culture and meeting the people of the world. I think that we're all the same, from Buffalo to Bangkok, and can learn to work together only by branching out to one another.
Campus Calm: What does success mean to you?
Colin: Success is being able to live on my own terms. This means something different to everyone, but to me it is the flexibility of being able to do what you want to do, when you want to do it. I don't mean this in the sense of being selfish and only in tune with your own wants, but just not having to worry about making rent or whether you can send your son on that trip with ski club. I've been told my whole life that money doesn't matter until you don't have any.
Campus Calm: What do you think is more important, the college degree or the education? Why?
Colin: Unfortunately, I think the degree itself has been devalued over the past twenty years. You no longer stand out in the crowd just by having that degree. I think that the education you receive in school is far and away the most important aspect. I don't necessarily mean the facts that you walk away with either. For most people, college is the first time they're immersed in the real world, and this education is very important as well. The life skills learned meeting new people, managing time, and living away from home are right up there with learning the ideas of existentialism, understanding hedge funds or writing creative prose.
Campus Calm: If you could be the face on a billboard that every high school and college student sees, what are a few things you'd like to tell them about life?
Colin: The rat race can wait. Live the life you want to live, but live it deliberately.
© 2009 Maria L. Pascucci /Campus Calm.
About the author:
Maria Pascucci is the President of Campus Calm –
the international online-community for today's stressed-out students, and
their parents and educators. Download your Stress-Less Kit with 4 FREE
gifts at www.campuscalm.com.
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