By Madison Yang
Behind the smiling pictures, lively parties and colorful commencement ceremonies, stand students on the edge of a new chapter – hopeful, but also carrying hushed uncertainties about what comes next.
“It’s a lot of different feelings – I’m excited, I’m nervous. It’s a lot, and I wish I knew what was coming, but I don’t. I just kind of have to sit in that feeling,” psychology major and upcoming graduate at Long Beach State Ginger Penland said.
This sentiment may resonate with other upcoming graduates, as the exhilaration of completing their college careers brings question marks as well.
Penland described the ambivalence surrounding commencement as a “double-edged sword,” where the pressure to attend career workshops or network can feel overwhelming, especially when there is still uncertainty about which path to pursue.
“Sometimes I feel like I want to try to go to more workshops or talk to more people within the field, but then sometimes I’m a little more avoidant,” Penland said. “I kind of just want to push it aside and forget about it because it’s really hard to figure out what I want to do and just go for it.”
Even with confidence in choosing one field to commit to, beyond receiving that diploma lies an increasingly desolate job market, the loss of a campus community and tackling many other aspects of adulthood that were once foreign.
When envisioning what the future after graduation will look like, some students like fourth-year psychology and computer science major Richard Santos are intimidated by the absence of routine and the support system that comes with being a student.
Santos commented on how, beneath the excitement of school ending, there exists a layer of fear for what comes next.
“[My fear] stems from a bit of uncertainty, just because this will probably be the first time in my life that I’m pretty much going to be on my own,” Santos said. “I do have people I can rely on, [but] it’s just going to be up to me for the most part.”
Postgraduate anxieties may also be amplified by the constant pressure to share every achievement and milestone on social media.
It would be rare to find posts about job search setbacks or the disorienting loss of academic routine.
More often, your feed is filled with polished grad portraits and others’ proud announcements of exciting new jobs right out of college.
It is in this kind of media exposure where the stress to land a full-time job after graduating is fostered and reinforces the unspoken belief that starting a steady career straight after school is the expected norm.
Jamie Nguyen, a senior and political science major, said that her worries for post-grad plans are largely influenced by what she sees on social media, movies and television.
“I think that pressure comes from media, where a lot of people generally have a full-time career lined up right after, and you don’t really see gap years and things like that portrayed online,” Nguyen said.
Indeed, there may be many students who find this new beginning to be thrilling and are fully prepared to get a jumpstart on the next phase in their lives.
But it is equally important to remember that beneath those frozen smiles of success, there are also students turning the page with trembling hands and unsure hearts.
Graduation can exist as both a fulfilling hurrah to the end of college and as a significant moment of hesitant reflection and lingering doubts.
