By Lindsay Haislip
Elm Staff Writer
Have you ever wondered what 2010 graduates plan to do after they graduate from Washington College in May? Many of this year’s seniors have big plans for the future as they prepare to leave the place that they have called home for the past four years.
“Many college students fear graduation, especially if they aren’t prepared to face ‘the real world,’” said senior Sophie Turshen.
“For this academic year, the career center has met face-to-face in the office with approximately 131 seniors (out of approximately 240), so 55 percent for actual appointments,” said Director of career development, Jim Allison. He said that many seniors have signed up with “Jobs By George,” a job and internship search site on the career center site.
The career center in a valuable resource for members of the WC community. “We are a free life time service for WC students,” said Allison. “We work with a significant amount of alumni. We offer everything: career counseling, assessment, resume and cover letter preparation, job search, graduate school search, law/med school applications. Our faculty plays a huge role in grad school search.”
“The national average for 2009 of students that had a job lined up at graduation was 19.7 percent,” said Allison. At graduation, 34.1 percent of 2009 WC graduating seniors had a job lined up. As for graduate school, the national average was 26 percent. The class of 2009 had 28.3 percent of students accepted to graduate school at graduation.
“Washington College tends to run ahead of the national average curve, said Allison. “We’re proud of those numbers.”
Not much is known about the 2010 statistics at this point, according to Allison. “We won’t know about the 2010 class until around the May 14 rehearsal when we do our ‘cap and gown survey’, however there are some seniors who shared what they have planned thus far for post-graduation.”
Senior Grace Harter said she first will “be doing the WC Tanzania summer trip and then in September [will] be deployed for the Peace Corps. I’ve studied abroad twice and really love traveling, especially in developing countries. I’ve also always thought the Peace Corps would be a good stepping-stone to working in international development. My professors encouraged me to go for it, especially my economics professor Dr. Daniels. She was also in the Peace Corps.”
Senior Taylor Robinson said, “I am attending Drexel University: College of Nursing, located in Philadelphia for an accelerated nursing program. I will be obtaining my Bachelor of Science in nursing in 11 months. Once finished, I plan to continue to obtain a masters and become a nurse practitioner. My nursing advisor, Dr. Ford, helped me with some schools to look at and Dr. Krochmal offered some sound advice that helped me decide which career would suit me best. I am positive I have made the right choice.”
Senior Erin Hendricksen said she will be off to veterinary school in Ireland this fall at University College of Dublin.
“I plan on getting my DVM to practice large animal medicine. Becoming a vet has actually been my passion and goal since I was very little, so I’ve been preparing for this for many years,” said Hendricksen. “All of [my professors] have been very supportive during my undergraduate career. Dr. Verville, head of the premed committee, has been a great resource during my application process, and the Biology department instructors have all prepared me for ‘life after WC,’ most especially my SCE advisor, Dr. Ford.”
Senior Karen Hye will be attending La Salle University’s Psy. D program in clinical psychology. “I was very much influenced by my professors, namely Dr. Littlefield,” she said.
Senior Max Rodriguez said he has hopes of going to Loyola College grad school for a one year MBA intense program.
“I interned at Merrill Lynch last summer, so I’m hoping if not grad school, to get a job with them in the Annapolis area,” he said.
Turshen plans to move home for a few months and “find a job as a youth director in a synagogue. I want to work with middle and high school Jewish youth doing programming as well as focusing on leadership development. I will do this for a few years as a stepping stone before returning to school and getting a degree in education with a focus in leadership development,” she said.
Turshen also offers some advice, saying, “keep your goals and dreams on your mind but don’t lose sight of your journey.”
Allison stated that “The National Association of Colleges and Employers has said that hiring will be up this year 5.3 percent from last year in 2009, when hiring was way down. That’s good news.”
This means good things for the members of the class of 2010, who will be handed their diplomas at commencement on May 16.