According to a Gazette survey of 100 Langston students, 75% of students said they came to school to become a better version of themselves. Yet, the conversation among graduating seniors and even some alumni is that they have to find out on their own how to conduct life after graduation.
During college, students are not always aware of what may happen. Bre’ana Walker, a senior public health major, described her college experience as unexpected.
“I didn’t know what to expect from college in general and especially what to expect from an HBCU. But it’s not unexpected to the point that I couldn’t overcome what I wasn’t ready for.”
For Walker, Langston prepared her for some aspects of her future, while others remained unclear. “I feel that Langston prepared me in a sense of staying on my toes and to always have a backup plan in case things just take a turn. But as far as life after college, maybe like grad school and things like that, I feel like it’s room for improvement. They get us prepared for life, but for further education, I feel like they could do better.”
Students often find themselves struggling to understand what life after college looks like. To some students Langston gets them involved in their major but not with graduate opportunities. Walker believes that Langston should have more graduate fairs.
“I feel like they should bring in more opportunities for each college and each major. I feel like they also need to expand their horizons and host graduate school fairs. I feel like grad school isn’t really talked about a lot. They tell us at the end to look at programs and stuff like that, but by the end of your last semester, it’s kind of too late to be applying and looking at programs. So I believe they should have implemented things earlier in our college experience.”
In college, advisors are known to guide students through their plan of study and advocate for opportunities. However, when asked about the helpfulness of her advisor, Walker shared that her first advisor deterred her experience.
“She didn’t have me in the right plan of study that I told her for the major that I wanted, and that ended up making me not be able to get into that college. But at the same time once I decided to change my major to public health, my advisor from that point on has been very hands-on. She’s the one that got me into looking for internships and pushing me to actually want to find what I want to do. So, while my current advisor was helpful in my major, it was a rocky relationship with my first advisor in the beginning.”
When it comes to life after college, Walker is excited but nervous about going into the real world.
“I feel like I know how to carry myself at a higher standard. Now that I’m leaving Langston, I know how to go out and speak up for myself for the things that I need and deserve.”
Walker believes that in order to become more engaged with life after college, students must be able to advocate for themselves. A piece of advice that she left for students who will soon follow her footsteps is “Start early, don’t wait until your senior year. Start your sophomore year to plan, start saving and cut out bad habits that are causing problems at that time. Because as you get older and enter those transitional stages, those bad habits will catch up with you and deter your mind, leading you to believe that you are not doing what you need to do. So I’ll just say get rid of those bad habits as soon as possible and keep your circle small. Do not be afraid to exclude people from your circle that may have been there in your younger phase because life is carrying on after college.”
Graduating can feel like a huge step into the unknown, especially if you have not had any conversations on where to go from there. Thomica McCloria, Class of 2022 health administration graduate, is a employee of the Oklahoma City VA medical center as part of administrative staff for their social work department. She shared about her transition into the professional world during a panel discussion about stepping into the future hosted by the ladies of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
“It was scary at first… so I really needed to get into the mindset of being comfortably uncomfortable, you know? Life’s gonna throw a lot of curveballs at you, and you’re gonna feel scared and a little lonely. But at the end of the day, no one’s gonna get you out of that hole except for you. And I often say that the scariest 10 steps that you need to take in life end up being the most fulfilling so just take it one day at a time, and know you’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
McCloria recounts her experience at Langston as more positive than negative. “I made a lot of connections through networking and joining different organizations. I believe that being able to communicate with other people and learn about their various experiences has aided me in acquiring these tools and resources to prepare me for the future. It also helped me learn more about myself.”
She also feels that she was not adequately advised throughout her collegiate career until junior year. “I think when I started getting into my major courses, and I was learning from professors who were actually in the field, that’s when I felt a little more comfortable. Those prerequisites felt rushed, and it felt like we were only doing it for a grade that didn’t really count toward your major. But once I got into my specific school (school of nursing and health professions) I had a lot of professors who helped me grow and just guided me through this experience of junior and senior year and even helping me through my master’s program and things like that.”
McCloria also feels that once she started getting into her major courses, her professors went further in depth with the material and allowed her to engage in real life scenarios. “Then I started to see these things unfold in my internship when I had to take my internship my senior year, so it was cool to connect the pieces in class to what I was seeing in my internship, and I feel like that prepared me a lot when it came to going out into the real world and finding a job.” She also mentions that she does not feel she lacks more than some of her colleagues.
“I actually feel like I’m more developed than some of my colleagues, especially since I work in healthcare. I am aware of information that they are not aware of. As a result, I frequently find myself teaching them. And I believe it all stems from the professors I had during my junior and senior years. And I’m glad I’m able to educate my coworkers, and it just makes me happy that I can be of assistance.”
McCloria shared that what kept her motivated for life after college is knowing that she is the only thing that she can control. “If I’m lacking, it’s on me, and I need to figure out how to do that. No one’s gonna hold my hand through life, so I need to pick myself up and rise up to the occasion in order to get where I need to be.”
McCloria suggests reaching out to alumni to help students become more engaged with the topic of life after college. “Because they have firsthand knowledge of what it’s like, particularly alumni from your specific university or school, such as School of Business, you can learn what steps they took, what fields they ended up going into, and you’ll have a better idea of what your life may turn out like if you follow these specific steps and simply continue to learn from others.”
McCloria’s advice to graduating seniors is, “I would tell them that it’s best to prepare early. The last thing they want to do is procrastinate on all of the things they need to do and end up feeling stuck and pressed for time. It can be hectic, so they should just make sure they are as prepared as possible and set themselves up for success. Try not to develop a habit of procrastination, as this will have an impact on them in the future.”
Sharodon Jenkins
Staff Writer
Sharodon Jenkins is a junior broadcast journalism major
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The Gazette serves as the student voice of Langston University. It is produced within the Department of Communication as a teaching tool and local news source for the campus community. The views and opinions expressed within are those of the writers whose names appear with the articles and do not necessarily represent the views of Langston University.
