I’m sitting here on my bed in New Jersey, it’s Daddy’s birthday so I came back home for the weekend. And after my first week of school, I think it has finally hit me. This Is It! This is my last semester, graduation is around the corner, and I am scared…shitless, but simultaneously so excited to be free from the burdens of academia. I made a decision not to go to graduate school (immediately), I like to call graduate school the “safety net” for most college graduates. When you still don’t know what to do with your life after four years (or three in my case), why not pay an extra 30 to 50 grand to get another degree…. which really in the scheme of things doesn’t protect you much more than a bachelor’s in our current economy. Unfortunately, networking gets you further than research papers and exams these days.

I’m more of a sky diving girl, either I am going to jump and soar… or fall straight on my ass. That’s pretty much what I plan to do. I like to think of my family as my extra parachute, but I am not too good at asking for things, so I am not sure how much use I’ll get out of it. I get yelled at all the time, “Arielle, you’re a student! Stop trying to handle everything by yourself.” Yes, easier said than done, but I have learned slowly to let some support in and yes it has made my life much easier.

I started thinking about what I am up against post-graduation:

1. A recession. Yes, this is nothing new. Not many places are hiring.

2. I am passionate about being a writer…in a recession.

3. The idea of moving back home/away from New York makes me go cold.

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My family never ceases to keep it real. As soon as I posted the news of my major change, the questions proceeded to flock in.  I am a melodramatic blogger/writer. I’ve always been that way. But yes, I truly thought my major change out because it depends on more than my “soul searching” mood of the moment lol.

1. I haven’t particularly decided what I am going to concentrate my doctorate in, so my major changed was not reflective of a graduate program choice. Studying literature sets you up for any program. Business, Law, Journalism, whatever. Every academic program requires analytical reading, so this is a solid foundation for any graduate school program.

2. I am most likely going to have to work my way through graduate school. Therefore, when I apply for jobs in my chosen field of magazine writing, marketing, public relations, etc., my employer needs to feel confidant that I can perform in that industry. Having an Anthropology major forced me to have to explain myself and rely on my past internship work experience to get me the job. Questions such as well aren’t you interested in archeology and digging up bones ALWAYS seemed to surface in my interviews. It got annoying and I realized that was not the brand I needed on my resume. Again, literature is writing, reading, and analyzing based, three skills that are the foundation of any executive position. For an undergraduate degree, I think that having those skills reflective in your major give your employer confidence in your ability in addition to any professional masters or doctorate you may bring to the table.

3. The Comparative Literature program REQUIRES all of its undergraduates to be bilingual before they receive their diplomas. Being bilingual, or even trilingual by the time I’m finished, will prove to be an asset not just in the corporate world but also for applying to any graduate school. We live in a global time, nothing is nation based anymore. Language requirements are a plus in every company and publication’s book, ESPECIALLY, with digital marketing and the internet forcing its presence on the world.

Those are just my three main reasons. RELAX everyone, the blogging is for your entertainment. I didn’t get into NYU for nothing people! lol