I am now in my fifth and final year at Capilano University and boy has it been a long journey. I am graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary studies, which has been the perfect degree choice for my indecisive self. I am undoubtedly happy to be coming to the end of this road at Capilano University but now the pressing question emerges, “what are your plans after graduation?”. I always believed that by the time I reached graduation I would have a precise plan of what I would be doing, but here I am, one week from graduation with no solid plan in sight. Not to say I don’t have any plan for my future, but as graduation creeps closer and closer I have no precise plan for the time being. I know I want to go into the teaching program in the next couple of years, but I don’t think that jumping from one degree to the next is something that will benefit me and help me grow as a person. I had hoped that I would have the opportunity to travel after graduation but the COVID-19 pandemic has put a pin in that plan. When travelling is accessible again I plan to do as much as I can, to experience the different cultures and different languages. I have also been slowly learning Spanish so I would love to practice what I have learned and immerse myself in Spanish speaking cultures. I truly believe that travelling globally is as educational and important as university, and that you learn just as much (although different things) while travelling that are important things to learn as you become an adult.
I am finding it difficult to make big decisions about my future because I am still trying to discover who I am as a person. My identity up until this point has been as a student, I have never taken a break from school. I went directly from high school into university, so I find it difficult to know if I am headed on the right path and making the right decisions career wise. I don’t know who I am outside of this student identity nor do I really know what I want. Another thing I have been thinking about is the importance of discovering who I am outside of my career choice, which I think is something that much like myself, many grads find difficult. With that being said I believe that travelling either by myself or with friends is an aspect that will not only help me discover who I am outside of my career choice, but also outside of the student identity that I have been in since I was five years old.
Whenever someone asks me what I am doing at the present moment I express with excitement that I will finally be graduating with my bachelor degree in Interdisciplinary studies, to which they will respond equally excited for me. Once the excitement subsides, they follow their excitement with “now what?”. I always respond with something along the lines of “I’ll be working at Cactus Club as a server to save up some money” or “in the future I plan to go into the teaching program”, but none of my responses come across with the same confidence or excitement that I had at the beginning of the conversation. As I was writing down my thoughts and beginning to write this paper I came to the conclusion that this is all part of the journey, moreover, I should be excited for all aspects of this journey. It is a huge accomplishment to graduate university. I suppose because university education is becoming more common, some people don’t see it as the same big accomplishment that it once was, but I truly believe that it is and it should be celebrated. People also believe that university degrees aren’t necessary to be successful and while I fully agree with that I think university degrees help you become a well-rounded person, they help you gain discipline, learn knowledge on a variety of topics, and generally will help you to be paid a little more in the job field compared to someone who hasn’t gone to university. I think that there is a tough balance with handling these external pressures as well as the pressure within myself to be successful academically and professionally. It is important for there to be a balance between a successful career to show for yourself and becoming a better person/the person you want to become. Over the summer I plan to do volunteering with youth while I weigh my options about various teaching programs I would like to apply for.