Reilly Gaunt, Abby Harvey, Nick Windsor, Coleton Pratt, Isaac Wolf
With graduation upcoming, Indiana Wesleyan University seniors begin preparation for their futures after college.
After going through life as a student, many seniors are entering into a new world where they will put their degrees to use. Graduation can be both terrifying for seniors but also exciting. Some people suffering from senioritis said they cannot wait to leave and get out into the real world while others are unsure about their futures.
Levi Huffman works as the associate dean of Indiana Wesleyan’s Life Calling & Career center, where he helps students find out their desires and plans for the future. Life Calling assists people every year from freshman entering the exploratory program to decide a major to seniors needing to practice mock interviews or make excellent resumes.
Huffman said that he and the rest of the Life Calling staff always want to help students the best ways they can, especially the seniors worried about their upcoming lives after college.
“I was just talking to some seniors this morning about it. Some of them have never had to create a budget. Some have never had to change a tire on their car or write a check. And I think there’s just so many unknowns that that it can feel a little bit like, ‘Am I going to know how to do it and do it well?’” Huffman said.
Huffman also said that though graduation may be scary, it should also be a celebratory time for students who completed all the hard work throughout college.
“I really do think that celebrating is important to the panic or fear element and if we don’t practice intentionally celebrating things, we can lose sight of all the amazing things God has allowed us to accomplish. Practicing the discipline of celebration is really important,” Huffman said.
Many seniors feel mixed emotions from excitement to nerves when thinking about their futures. Addison Magers said she is excited to move into the next phase of life, but also worries for her path there. Magers wants to go into some kind of news or media production, particularly on the tech side.
“I am excited to get out of IWU and actually enter the real world, but I’m definitely nervous too. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly I’m going to do. I haven’t heard back from any internships yet, so I’m trying to hang onto the game of waiting right now,” Magers said.
The Life Calling and Career center celebrates with the students for finishing up their education while also helping them decide their next steps be it grad school, family life, military, or going into the workforce.
Laney Shaw plans to go the military route by commissioning as a second lieutenant in the army stationed in a hospital in Washington as a nurse.
Other IWU nursing seniors, Callie Sargent and Maggie Joseph, plan on eventually leaving Indiana to become nurses in different ICU centers. They both said they are looking forward to the freedom offered with graduation.
“There’s just so much to be excited about because you actually get to have more control on what your day to day life looks like and I think a lot of students really hunger for that,” Huffman said.
A lot of seniors shared the sentiment that while they are excited to go out into the world, they will miss their friends and community from IWU. Kaylee Goode and Storm Braaten both said that the saddest part of graduation is leaving behind the community they found at IWU.
Not every senior has exact plans laid out for post-graduation. Raffi Fry said he plans on just taking a gap year to work odd jobs while figuring out more concrete ideas for his future.
“I haven’t figured out all my plans. I thought I had it figured out, but now I’m rethinking my life as a senior. It’s a little bit different as it gets closer to graduation time. Plans change and people are doing their own things. I don’t know what God has for me as I’m graduating this April,” Fry said.
For seniors still struggling with fear and worries about their post graduation plans, the Life Calling and Career center is always available, even until the last minute.
“If you can, even if it’s in the eleventh hour, take advantage of the resources that you have available to you, whatever those are,” Huffman said. “Take care of yourself and seek support.”
