2008 Woodie Awards
He said/She said: Life and relationships: beyond college
What should you take with you? What should you leave behind?
Lindsey Nelsen and John Rickgarn
Issue date: 1/18/06 Section: Features
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Which friends should you keep in contact with, and which do you pretend you never knew?
He said: I do not know if "pretend you never knew" would be the right phrase, although there's certainly some professors and classmates I am not going to miss when I leave here. Some people you meet you will keep in contact with simply because you have their MSN contact info, email, phone number, address, etc. I still keep in contact with many of my high school friends today. However, there are always a few that will just fade away into memory. Maybe they move too far away, become a monk or simply lose interest with keeping in contact with college friends. In any case, keep in contact with the people that you really bonded with and became good friends with from clubs, classes, etc. and not so much the "Oh, what's her name?" that sat three seats up from you in Accounting all last semester.
She said: I think there are some people that you purposely want to forget about, but probably will want to hear any juicy gossip about five years from now. I would have to say that I will keep in contact with people I have met on the golf team and in the Spur, and a few from classes and social events. I will have a harder time forgetting professors, since I had to stare at them talking for at least four months a piece. But for the most part, like high school, if there is not a common thread that links us, there will not be much reason to talk to them, and will fade away.
Should you consider grad school right away, take some time off first or jump headfirst into the rat race?
She said: I think that this one really depends on what you went to school for. If you went for elementary education, you do not need any more education, and if you do not find a job soon, you never will. However, many other fields require grad school to get a decent paying job. My majors are chemistry and biology, and I am currently applying to grad school. I may have to take time off if I do not get in, but I think if I took a year off just because, I might not go back. I think it is better to either continue school or jump into your field so you do not lose focus.
He said: I agree that taking time off is really dangerous, unless you need the time off to work to afford it. I work with one guy who took some "time off" almost three years ago and still has not gone back to school just to finish his bachelor's. I plan on going to grad school to get my Ph.D eventually in Political Science in order to become a college professor. Who knows, maybe I'll end up teaching back here.
If for whatever reason you are fed up with school and enter the workforce, it's a dangerous world. Those low-interest, pay-later school loans you have accumulated will need to start being paid back. Your parents more than likely will not support you any longer. You will be COMPLETELY on your own. Exciting as it is, it can also be scary, so you need to be prepared.
Will relationships last after college?
He said: This will obviously depend on the type of relationship you have going for you. Those one-night stands or your friends-with-benefits relationships will almost certainly not last. However, if you have been in a serious relationship with someone for some time, more than likely you will end up being together. More people find their soulmates in college than they do in high school, anyway. I know my relationship with my girlfriend will last long after college and lead to something more.
If you are in one of those relationships you know will not last after you walk down the aisle and pick up that $20,000+ piece of paper, don't sweat. You are still young and will have many other opportunities to meet people whether from work, social outings, neighbors, blind dates from friends, etc.
She said: I agree with John. Bed buddies will be forgotten in the long run, and you will probably be embarrassed five years down the road. If you have not met someone you are serious about and want more than "someone to do stuff with," it can only get better in a more mature setting like your "real job". I am glad I started dating the person I am with before the crazy days of college, because at least I know it was not alcohol induced. So do not sweat it if you have not found Mr. or Mrs. Right, because there are plenty of opportunities left.
Final thoughts
She said: Life after the Bachelor's degrees scares me more than a little. College so far has been an extension of high school, with new opportunities and freedoms, but now I have to enter the real world. Grad school will be a new challenge, and it is time to see where my five-year relationship will go when I move away from Minnesota. I do not think there is a right or wrong answer in the early years after college. Good luck to all my fellow seniors!
He said: It almost feels like I just got here, like yesterday I was walking down the aisle graduating from high school. It is hard to believe how time flies sometimes. All in all it has been a blast and am looking forward to moving on from SMSU. Good luck to all the graduating seniors (and all super seniors like me).
He said: I do not know if "pretend you never knew" would be the right phrase, although there's certainly some professors and classmates I am not going to miss when I leave here. Some people you meet you will keep in contact with simply because you have their MSN contact info, email, phone number, address, etc. I still keep in contact with many of my high school friends today. However, there are always a few that will just fade away into memory. Maybe they move too far away, become a monk or simply lose interest with keeping in contact with college friends. In any case, keep in contact with the people that you really bonded with and became good friends with from clubs, classes, etc. and not so much the "Oh, what's her name?" that sat three seats up from you in Accounting all last semester.
She said: I think there are some people that you purposely want to forget about, but probably will want to hear any juicy gossip about five years from now. I would have to say that I will keep in contact with people I have met on the golf team and in the Spur, and a few from classes and social events. I will have a harder time forgetting professors, since I had to stare at them talking for at least four months a piece. But for the most part, like high school, if there is not a common thread that links us, there will not be much reason to talk to them, and will fade away.
Should you consider grad school right away, take some time off first or jump headfirst into the rat race?
She said: I think that this one really depends on what you went to school for. If you went for elementary education, you do not need any more education, and if you do not find a job soon, you never will. However, many other fields require grad school to get a decent paying job. My majors are chemistry and biology, and I am currently applying to grad school. I may have to take time off if I do not get in, but I think if I took a year off just because, I might not go back. I think it is better to either continue school or jump into your field so you do not lose focus.
He said: I agree that taking time off is really dangerous, unless you need the time off to work to afford it. I work with one guy who took some "time off" almost three years ago and still has not gone back to school just to finish his bachelor's. I plan on going to grad school to get my Ph.D eventually in Political Science in order to become a college professor. Who knows, maybe I'll end up teaching back here.
If for whatever reason you are fed up with school and enter the workforce, it's a dangerous world. Those low-interest, pay-later school loans you have accumulated will need to start being paid back. Your parents more than likely will not support you any longer. You will be COMPLETELY on your own. Exciting as it is, it can also be scary, so you need to be prepared.
Will relationships last after college?
He said: This will obviously depend on the type of relationship you have going for you. Those one-night stands or your friends-with-benefits relationships will almost certainly not last. However, if you have been in a serious relationship with someone for some time, more than likely you will end up being together. More people find their soulmates in college than they do in high school, anyway. I know my relationship with my girlfriend will last long after college and lead to something more.
If you are in one of those relationships you know will not last after you walk down the aisle and pick up that $20,000+ piece of paper, don't sweat. You are still young and will have many other opportunities to meet people whether from work, social outings, neighbors, blind dates from friends, etc.
She said: I agree with John. Bed buddies will be forgotten in the long run, and you will probably be embarrassed five years down the road. If you have not met someone you are serious about and want more than "someone to do stuff with," it can only get better in a more mature setting like your "real job". I am glad I started dating the person I am with before the crazy days of college, because at least I know it was not alcohol induced. So do not sweat it if you have not found Mr. or Mrs. Right, because there are plenty of opportunities left.
Final thoughts
She said: Life after the Bachelor's degrees scares me more than a little. College so far has been an extension of high school, with new opportunities and freedoms, but now I have to enter the real world. Grad school will be a new challenge, and it is time to see where my five-year relationship will go when I move away from Minnesota. I do not think there is a right or wrong answer in the early years after college. Good luck to all my fellow seniors!
He said: It almost feels like I just got here, like yesterday I was walking down the aisle graduating from high school. It is hard to believe how time flies sometimes. All in all it has been a blast and am looking forward to moving on from SMSU. Good luck to all the graduating seniors (and all super seniors like me).