By Kameron Court
More than 2,500 Texas Tech students are about to enter the proverbial “real world” in December, according to Texas Tech’s Office of the Provost.
This year’s commencement, held Dec. 11-12 in the United Supermarkets Arena, will feature Tech’s head coach emerita Marsha Sharp as the graduation speaker. And while most soon-to-be graduates may have figured out which forms to complete and how to order graduation gowns, their expectations from life after college remain fuzzy.
Dylan Smyth, an electronic media and communication major from Austin, Texas, who will be walking the stage this December, said he believes future success depends on getting “as much experience outside of class as humanly possible.”
Internships are increasingly important for college graduates looking to get hired, according to the U.S. News and World Report.
Jonathan Caudle, a graduate student from Houston in the College of Media & Communication, agrees.
“Volunteer to help out with anything that you can because it might just open a door to an internship or valuable experience that can help you stand out,” Caudle said.
Google data indicate that searches for “how to get a job” spike about about a month after the two waves of college graduation–in January and even more so in June-July. The numbers represent relative, not absolute volume of searches. Source: Google Trends.
But Jonathan Barton from Amarillo, Texas, who graduated from Tech in 2009 with degrees in political science and public relations, said there is more to success.
“Two things: First, don’t think you are above any job,” he said. “Reaching your career goal will take time and hard work. Be patient. Second, listen. Yeah you learn a lot in school and you want to tell everyone about it, but listen to those around you and keep learning.”
Loren Page, a COMC graduate student from Waxahachie, Texas, said it’s also important to live in the moment instead of worrying about the future.
“All the late nights at the library, cold-morning walks to exams, late-night coffee and pizza runs with study groups, and every single Tech game have really taught me that life is truly what you make of it,” Page said.
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