When I was a senior in high school and applying for colleges, I could not escape from people asking about the status of my applications.\u00a0 If it was someone from school, it was \u201cUVA or Virginia Tech?\u00a0 Mary Washington or William and Mary?\u201d* If it was someone from church, it\u2019d be \u201cHow\u2019s the BYU app going?\u201d\u00a0 So coming to Puget Sound, a small, private liberal arts school 3,000 miles away, was a bit out of the box.\u00a0 Hipster, even, one might say.<\/p>\n
As a fellow senior was kind enough to point out recently, there are now fewer than two hundred days left before graduation.\u00a0 This is only mildly terrifying.\u00a0 Over the summer, I went through a freak-out phase and, during a slow week at work, made a spreadsheet of potential future plans: grad school options, companies and nonprofits for which I could see myself working, volunteer opportunities.\u00a0 This was a fantastic idea and I highly recommend it: even though I don\u2019t feel like I know what I\u2019m doing, I look like I do, which then annoys my older sister, and that\u2019s always nice.<\/p>\n
Last week, Career and Employment Services held a career fair.\u00a0 My usual reaction to events like this used to be \u201cPsh, not a senior, don\u2019t have to go.\u201d\u00a0 (Don\u2019t do that, kids.\u00a0 Never too early and all that.)\u00a0 Anyway, during another slow week at work over the summer, I read a bunch of articles with headlines along the lines of \u201cHalf of Recent College Still Relying on Parents for Money, Study Finds.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 That is not a situation that I like.\u00a0 So I\u2019m now pretty motivated to attend CES events, and so far it seems to be paying off (keep in mind that there are also articles like this<\/a>\u00a0and this<\/a>).<\/p>\n My other sister, the younger one, is in the throes of applying for college.\u00a0 So, even though unemployment rates are scary things, this has been a nice reminder that things could be worse \u2013 at least at Puget Sound we have CES, which is significantly more helpful than my sister\u2019s high school advisor.\u00a0 Job applications are intimidating, but aren\u2019t as labor-intensive as the Common App and don\u2019t cost $50+ a pop.\u00a0 And I have reason to\u00a0mock both of my sisters.\u00a0 Life is good.<\/p>\n *To be fair, I did actually apply to Mary Washington and William and Mary.\u00a0 I wrote W&M an essay correcting the grammar of the essay prompt.\u00a0 It was a fantastic essay.\u00a0 They wait-listed me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I was a senior in high school and applying for colleges, I could not escape from people asking about the status of my applications.\u00a0 If it was someone from school, it was \u201cUVA or Virginia Tech?\u00a0 Mary Washington or … Continue reading