I’m about to register for my final semester of classes in a few weeks, as I will be graduating from the University of Maryland in May! Yay! But then comes the loaded question of…what are you doing after you graduate? I bet those of us who are almost done with school have been hearing this a lot. Me too! It’s had me thinking.

I bet everyone is considering a few different options for what they want to do after graduation. Start a job, continue to higher education, move somewhere new, join an armed service, etc. Me personally, I have a few ideas floating around, but the main thing that I want to do is to attend graduate school. I applied for a Fulbright scholarship for the 2018-2019 year to be a English Teaching Assistant in Colombia, but statistically, the odds are low at being accepted. I will hear back in January 2018 to hear if I have been accepted or rejected (Cross your fingers for me!). Although I have not given up on this dream, I am keeping my options open. And luckily, The Universities at Shady Grove also had grad programs! Double yay! I am going to apply to the Publications Design M.A. program through the University of Baltimore, at USG. I have had a few friends that have gone on to do this program after graduation, and I have heard nothing but good things. USG offers a vast range of other masters programs like an M.S. in Management from UMUC, MBA from UMCP, M.S.W. from UMB, and others. I love that USG gives me the option to attend grad school locally.

It’s also great that grad school is an option here because it allows me to remain a student ambassador and keep my position working on campus. They say that in college, you can feel like a small fish in a big pond, but I don’t feel that way here at USG. It’s amazing to have advisors for the grad school program I am interested in, just down the hallway.

Some of you may be itching to start working and be done with school, I definitely have a few friends who are like that! An awesome service we have on campus is our Career and Internship Services Center. You can make an appointment with the Career Center to have them look over your resume, prep for an interview, job search strategies, and career coaching. These services are completely free for students! These are great services to take advantage of, if you are beginning your search for jobs after college. Or even if you are unsure of which career field you want to start in. They can help you out! Located within our Student and Academic Services Suite, in Building III on the first floor.

It’s also OK to not know what you want to be doing after graduation yet! Hey, I might change my mind next week of what I’d like to be doing. I think it’s completely fine to be undecided about what steps you are going to take next. I might be teaching in South America or I could be here at USG in a master’s program, or somewhere else! I’ll be sure to keep you informed of where this path takes me. I wish you the best if you are also figuring out what is the next step!