Everything will be okay

By: Allison Wisyanski ~Arts & Entertainment Editor~

One thing I want every parting senior and those embarking toward senior year to know is that everything will be ok. Senior year, while it’s fun, is also one of the most stressful years in college. Applying for jobs, preparing for interviews, making killer resumes and writing cover letters upon cover letters can be stressful, but there’s one thing during this year that I’ve always kept in mind: It’ll all be okay.

I often get so stressed out about things that are out of my control. This year, I learned to take everything day by day, trying to be as positive as possible when it came to planning for my future. I wanted to focus on getting jobs, schoolwork and still make enough time to have a social life. I wanted to make the most of every minute I had at college, but balancing all these things proved to be more stressful than anticipated.

Going into senior year I thought, oh, I’ll definitely find a job by the end of first semester. That hasn’t been the case. I knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but I didn’t expect it to be as overwhelming as it became. I found myself constantly thinking about what my next move in life would be and I would become stressed near tears. But after talking with family members, friends and mentors, I began to see I didn’t necessarily need to know the exact path that I needed to be on. I knew that I had a destined path, and I also knew that I had time to explore what exactly that path would be.

There wasn’t a day that went by (and there still isn’t) where I wasn’t concerned about finding a job. I tried to apply for jobs every day to get myself out there. I had interviews and phone interviews and, even when I was rejected, I kept my head up and continued to truck through the job application process. It got frustrating at times to have to go through this process over and over again, but I knew that it needed to be done.

I saw many of my friends go so far in the interview process only to get rejected in the end, and it made me sad. But it also reminded me that no matter how qualified you are, the chance of rejection is still there. And I know that rejection is something I needed to be able to take and eventually learned to take. I ran into people who were so stressed about finding a job that they weren’t even enjoying senior year.

So let me explain. My outlook is that everything will work out, no matter how much it seems like it isn’t going to. I know I’ll get a job offer instead of a rejection. I know that there’s a job out there waiting for me, and I know that I may not absolutely be in love with the first one that I take. But I do know that it won’t be a forever sort of thing. I’m sure I’ll have several jobs in my lifetime, and I’m sure that I’ll love some more than others. One thing I know for sure is that I will end up where I’m supposed to be, and I’ll eventually wake up every day, eager to do what I love.

My advice to everyone is this – don’t let the job process completely bring you down. Don’t let it take away your happiness. Senior year is supposed to be full of fun times and making memories with the friends who became family over the past four years. Focus on finding that job, but don’t allow it to hinder your senior year experience. We only get to be undergraduates once, so make every minute count.

You don’t want to look back on your senior year and wish that you did it all differently, wish that you spent less time worrying and more time enjoying life. Live every day to the fullest, put your best effort forward when it comes to applying to jobs and give it your all, and you’ll find that job. And when you do, you’ll realize that what I said was right: everything will be okay.