|
While speaking with my mother on the phone yesterday morning, we started doing the usual: talking about school, talking about our family and of course, talking about my progress in job searching. We talked about my cousin's recent move to South Dakota and when we were going to go out and visit her. All I know is that I'm definitely not going out there until August - it'll be too cold until then I told her. Her response completely blindsided me: Kadi you have to find a job. You don't get a summer break anymore. What? No summer break? This concept still baffles me. Even after discussing it over beers with some of my freshman year dorm mates, I still can't comprehend that in just over 5 months, I'm going to be leaving this place, never to return as a student. My little sib came down this weekend so I could show her around campus and convince her that being a Bobcat is way better than being a Buckeye. After a walk up Court Street, a drive to Strouds, a few games of beer pong and two nights of fun with the amazing people I call my friends, she was convinced (You're welcome, Ohio University). All the while, as I was showing her around my home, my campus and my life, I couldn't help but think in the back of my mind that it's going to be over before I know it. I have never wanted Winter Quarter to last so long before, but I know that once the notorious Spring Quarter arrives, it'll be all downhill from there. Weekends will fly by, loaded with fests, keg stands and shuffles, and the weeks will be littered with papers, quizzes and exams making those 10 short weeks seem like just a few days. I don't mean to be sentimental now, but it's just getting to crunch time - my last few weeks before really having to buckle down and plan my near future. Many other graduating seniors are experiencing the same feelings of anxiousness, nervousness and pure terror as we plummet into the employment world that isn't doing so hot. Brian Kim, a blogger (briankim.net) wrote a blog titled 5 Things Every College Grad Should Know. It lists the typical - don't think you're entitled to a job, everyone has a degree and all that noise - but the fifth and final item on the list is this: Build and Maintain a New Social Network. How simple. Be friendly, do things you like to do and have fun once in a while. It really is a rather straightforward concept. It is so important to have friends - this advice being something college graduates and those still in college can heed. Friends and a network are the key to success. If you have great friends, and plenty of them, you are destined to have a happy and rewarding lifestyle. And as Kim says, people will always need friends. OU has been a huge contributor to my social network. From fellow Scrippsters to friends in the business school, teammates in Health and Human Services and a roommate heading to law school, plus a few future engineers, I've got my network spread out pretty far. I couldn't be happier to have met and enjoyed the company of the friends I've made over the past four years. It is incredible to know that no matter where we live or what we're doing, we'll always have that Athens bond - bound by knowledge, community and, of course, alcohol. Kadi McDonald is a senior studying magazine journalism. Be a part of her network by e-mailing her at km134305@ohiou.edu. |
4
Opinion
Kadi McDonald
