By: Amanda Benson:
(Worcester, MA) — Assumption College begins to wrap up their year as finals begin and seniors begin to worry. The typical anxieties and worries have approached about: What will I do after school? Do I have a job? Do I need to continue my education? Do I have a plan?
According to a Washington Post article, there is such a thing called “post graduation depression” and this refers to all the worry and uncertainty about the future. This leaves recent graduates feeling unmotivated and stressed. Although there is no formal diagnosis, there is a lot of research to back up the feelings of many students. Many are jobless for numerous reasons. Student loan debt needs to begin being paid off and that is just icing on the cake for recent grads stress levels.
These are all the questions and concerns students all over the world ask themselves, and if you find yourself in one of these categories, do not be afraid you’re likely struggling just like everyone else. These common worries were discussed with many seniors from Assumption and the overall reaction was not many people were nervous as much as they were sad to be done with school and living with friends. It is onto the real world.
A Twitter poll asked the questions whether or not students knew what they were doing after graduation or had no idea what to do. The latter response got a bigger response. 62% said they were unsure and this leads into the interviews taken where students shared their experiences and plans for after graduation.
Senior Abigail McKanna speaks about how she feels and doesn’t know what she is doing after graduation.
Julia Malta, who is also a senior, has no plans for after graduation. She is worried and begins laughing and making jokes to make light of her situation. She jokingly says she plans “to win the lottery and hope for the best.”
These seniors have had a good run the past four years and are not quite ready to let go of their time at Assumption.
Seniors Leah Cayer and Taylor Burkett explain graduation and leaving Assumption College is “bittersweet” and they aren’t as much nervous for life after graduation, but more sad.
Another interview from senior basketball player, Morgan O’Donnell tells us that she doesn’t want to play basketball for the rest of her life and is nervous to start all over because she is interested in pursuing a career in nursing.
The overall consensus from the students we spoke to was they were nervous, sad and excited all together thinking about graduation. The real world is going to hit like a ton of bricks, but many were excited to see where life is going to take them and what their next steps are. Following the video interviews, the students stated that they feel that their time here needs to come to an end and with all the memories they have made that they will keep these lifelong friends and will all be successful in the future.
THE AC301 