Ryan ChartrandGraduation from college is a major event. Graduation evaluations, countless meetings with advisors, checking, double-checking, triple-checking, even quadruple-checking units taken, all for a piece of paper that says you did it. You jumped through all the hoops Cal Poly threw at you, and now you’re ready for a solid, 9-to-5 job.
I am graduating in five days. It’s kind of neat to know that I’m part of a relatively small group of students who will finish school midyear instead of in June. It’s almost like we’re a special secret society. When I’ve mentioned it to my classmates, their reactions have ranged from excited admiration to jealousy, and with the latter came a sudden desire to throw things at me – I’ll admit it, I didn’t expect that. And then comes the inevitable question: “what are you going to do after you graduate?” Thank goodness I have an answer – there’s nothing worse than not knowing what your future plans are when your future is a week away.
I applied to Cal Poly as a long shot, just to see if I could get in. Four and a half years later, I’m finishing my degree – with a French minor, no less – and I’m amazed to think that my life would have taken a completely different path had I not chosen to go to Cal Poly.
As high school juniors and seniors, we know that the decision to go to college is a major one, and some of us stress out over it, big-time, but I was relatively calm about my decision. I got into four out of the five colleges that I applied to, and after visiting Cal Poly, I was hooked. It just felt like my home away from home, moreso than any other college I had visited so far. Four years later, I don’t regret my decision at all. I never did. That has to say something about the university. As challenging as a Cal Poly education is, the students and environment make it feel like home – at least for me.
My sister is considering applying, and I couldn’t be happier. I am careful to not force her into a decision, just as my parents were with me and are with her, but there is a little part of me that secretly hopes that she is able to enjoy her education here as much as I did mine.
During the quarter, I’ve been very tempted to walk around on campus with my head held a little higher, but I’ve been humbled by the amount of work I’ve had to finish before I could. “You won’t have any reason to be proud if you don’t finish that article!” I would tell myself. Cal Poly really does put students through the wringer once they declare that they want to graduate. Now that I’m done with the work, I find myself feeling a little awkward, like there’s something else I should be doing. It’ll wear off. I’ve felt like this before, and it took about a week for me to fully relax after the quarter ended.
I’ve whined and complained about how much extra work – and money, for that matter – I’ve had to put in this quarter just because I’m graduating, but the truth is, I could have it much worse. I have an engineering major for a roommate, and he’s up almost every night until at least midnight working on just four or five problems. I’d probably shoot myself if I had to sit and stare at the same page of problems for six hours. But that’s another story.
It’s hard for me to believe that I’m considered a competent, mature candidate for a full-time job now. Some would argue that real-world experience is more valuable than a college degree when applying for a job, but I feel like I needed the degree to give me a boost of self-confidence. I would have felt unworthy and unprepared for a job in my field of interest if I hadn’t gone to college.
So, now I go home to find a job. I like to think that I have an advantage in applying for a job in January as opposed to June, since many employers are hiring at the beginning of the year, but I’m also scared. Most people, in general, don’t look forward to living with their parents after graduation, and I am no exception. Thoughts like, “what if it takes me months to find a job?” and “what if I’m forced to take a job I hate somewhere else because I can’t stand living at home?” fly through my head almost daily. But, I have to at least try. You never know what can happen until you try.
Life is hard, but I’m also looking forward to making my own money. I have been very well taken care of throughout my college education – my parents have paid for everything. I don’t expect being on my own to be easy, but it’s also exciting to know that I will be completely self-sufficient, and I won’t have to make any calls home when I need more money.
I have always admired people who are well-adjusted and content with where they are at in life, no matter what comes their way. I aspire to be one of those people someday, and I consider graduation from college the first step in that direction. It’s the first accomplishment in my life that I’ve truly felt proud of. Graduating from high school was fine – most people do that – but when I walk out of the Rec Center on Saturday, I will have something that many people don’t: a college degree.
I don’t mean to sound elitist. It’s just that I have accomplished something huge, and I should get recognition for it.
Normally, I’m a very modest person, so it feels a little strange to be announcing it to everyone – honestly, I’m a little uncomfortable when I see people’s reactions to it; I’m not used to being the center of attention. But, it is big. I am my paternal grandparents’ first grandchild to graduate from college. That’s something to be proud of. And I intend to make my family even more proud when I find myself a great job and start making my own life. As the song says, “This could be the start of something.big!” This is definitely the start of something big, and I intend to enjoy it.