Livy's blog
Class of 2008, English Major, from Fridley, MN

I can't believe we are entering into our last week of February! Even with Leap Year, the weeks just do not seem long enough!

About a month ago I registered for Career Service's Mock Interview night. When I signed up in January, I was sure that by the time the workshop would come, I'd already have this whole interviewing thing nailed.

This was hardly the case.

Fortunately, I hadn't really interviewed with any organizations when Tuesday arrived. I say fortunately because I definitely learned a lot about what the whole "selling yourself" process. What to do, what NOT to do, how to dress, how to sit, how to stall for time without looking like an idiot...you know, all those things that really aren't as easy as they seem. I realized, for instance, that I like to fidget with my right earlobe and say "um" a lot. Not cool.

There was only six SNC students there on Tuesday, which I have to say, surprised me considering how close this whole real-world gig is coming, and then a panel of four interviewers. Two were Career Services employees, and two were business women in the local area. The night was two hours long, with about forty minutes of solid interviewing time. By the end of the night, I could already notice major improvements in myself.

I would highly recommend registering for this event next year...it's a great way to organize your past experiences in a coherent and articulate way.

Last night Michelle Obama visited our campus. Over 750 people from the college community packed into the Walter Theatre to meet and greet her. Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Mrs. Obama spoke at length about public schooling and the rising cost of higher education in America. It’s becoming increasingly more impossible, she said, for the youth of today to achieve their dreams of tomorrow—college degrees are just too expensive.
Three more years to go, Michelle said, before her and Barack will be finished paying off their student loans. And that’s only because, she joked, of her husband’s best selling books.
Haha. Very funny.
Walking back to our apartment, my housemate and I let out long sighs. Neither of us plans to enter the corporate world—which is not to say that working for-profit is bad or evil (let’s be serious, it’s what fuels our economy) but, it’s just not for us. I’m looking into either a career as a journalist (Okay, you’re right this is technically part of the corporate world, but it’s low-paying enough that it can fall, in my opinion, into the non-corporate category) or as a human rights worker. My housemate hopes to go into the non-profit world as a family service psychologist. None of these options equal big money and we are very aware of this. But that is the reality of the non-profit world, the non-conventional path, the non-practical route, as some might say.
And although it is exactly because of their choice to work in the non-profit world after graduating from Princeton and Harvard Law that makes us really admire the Obama duel, hearing Michelle Obama talk about it made us sort of cringe.
This sucks, we concluded, We are going to be in debt FOREVER.
Currently, my housemmate is waiting to hear back from four of the graduate schools she already applied to. She has four more applications to fill out, and she hopes that at least one of these eight will offer her enough financial aid so that she can say “Yes”. And me? Well, I am waiting for my creative writing to be discovered by some big name publishing firm. Haha. Yeah right, we say to one another, Keep dreaming.
And at this point, both of our career goals do seem like some lofty dreams, just lingering out there in the distance. But what is the reality?
Is it that the cost of education is ridiculously high and therefore unattainable to many?
Sure, I’d agree with that. (And I have my bank statements to back my decision!)
Is it that only the lucky few, the fortunate ones, have the love and support to turn their limited (or not so limited) opportunities into successes?
Maybe.
But I’d like to think that that distance, that horizon which holds our dreams, is in fact, just a stretch. Sure, it’s going to take work (and for most of us, loans) to get there. But we can get there. And I’m not talking politics right now. Or at least not in the way of plugging a particular candidate. What I’m talking about is finding that niche in our lives, that career, that vocation, that path that lines up with where we come from and where we want to go. That is, after all, why so many of us choose St. Norbert College. The personalized attention from faculty and staff is what has helped tons of students find this niche in the past.
If you aren’t an Obama supporter, okay, I doubt that everyone in that auditorium was. If you aren’t a Democrat, that’s fine too. I’m not here to blog about political ideologies. But, if you aren’t “into” politics—work on it. It affects you and your future career more than any of us like to admit.
Because the reality is, as my housemate and I concluded last night, politics with the capital P does play a role into what we choose to do with our careers and what we decide are do-able vocations. So while we don’t know all the answers right now (really who does in college?), we can take a few more steps in figuring it out. Voting for the Wisconsin Primaries is one step http://www.co.brown.wi.us/County_Clerk/Polls.htm. Attending informational forums here on campus about political issues is another step http://www.snc.edu/peaceandjustice/events.html. And visiting Web sites such as: http://www.ontheissues.org/Candidates.htm, or http://www.youtube.com/youchoose are also helpful.
However you do it, and whomever you choose, just remember that not voting is detrimental in your journey of discovering your career niche and reaching your dreams.

That's the question my friends and I have been asking each other since second semester began. We are only into our third week and already we all feel this overwhelming urge to be using every spare minute to "make the most" of our final months together. Which is to say, maximizing those wonderful time-management skills we have (hopefully) gained in the past three years. If nothing else, college has taught us how to balance life. Sleeping in, working-out, studying, watching Grey's, going to class, attending extra-curricular meetings, grocery shopping, doing laundry oh and did I mention, applying for jobs?

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, finding a job (or the "right" grad school, volunteer corps, etc.) is a full-time job. Actually, being a final semester senior is a full-time job.

So, I've come, for the second time today, to Luna Coffee, http://lunacafe.com/, (a St. Norbert hot spot) to organize my life. I smile and nod at the people around me, most of whom are fellow seniors. They wave and roll their eyes back at me. Yeah, I know, the list never ends. I saw most of them three hours ago before my 3 o'clock class, and all of them are still sitting exactly where I left them, still doing the exact same thing...juggling life.

It's a balancing act, it really is. I've been planning this weekend since Monday night because it's crunch time. We're going to the networking event, Senior Wine Tasting, and hanging out Friday night, but after that, it's future time. Which will look something like writing cover letters for jobs I found on SimplyHired.com and registering for AmeriCorps. Saturday I'll call a 2007 alum and informally interview her on her current AmeriCorps VISTA position in St. Paul, and then decide if I want to add her organization to the "Places to Apply" list at the back of my planner. Undoubtedly our conversation will spark many other ideas and thoughts on where to apply and it'd be back to the drawing board, yet again.

But please, don't let this complain-ey blog fool you. The truth is, as much as we gripe and complain about how much there is to do and what little time we have to do it, it still is, more than anything else, an exciting time in our lives. And we are lovin' all the options.

Starting early is the best you can do. I think all my friends will tell you that we started seriously looking at organizations, business and grad-schools early last summer. If you haven't already, begin reflecting on what energizes you and what your gifted at, and you'll quickly see all the many, many, things you can be doing...which I think any senior will tell you, is both a curse and a blessing!