An Ode to the Graduate

(for my brother )

You did it (or you’re almost done)! You got your degree and you’re proud of yourself because you accomplished something great! The graduation ceremony was a success and your family is beaming with pride. Then 3 weeks pass and the excitement quickly fades and you are faced with the question of your future.

What’s next?

For some, that question had already been answered by an acceptance to graduate school. For some there’s an internship or fellowship with your name on it. But for many of us, there is a big fat question mark because we really aren’t 100% sure. All that we know is that we have 6 months until our student loan debt comes to bite us. So the dreaded job search has started.

With job searching, you’re stuck in this terrible limbo. You have to find that perfect balance between optimism and hope and the reality of rejection. Sometimes you’re successful and other days you’re borderline depressed. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I was in the same place a year ago. I took a job as a substitute teacher just because I couldn’t bear to sit around and wallow in the misery of my own uncertainty about my teacher. I had wanted to go to either go to nursing school or become a campus minister (both very different professions). But as I was subbing I realized that I didn’t really see myself enjoying either. After my last rejection letter came in and after the school year ended, I decided to apply to AmeriCorps as a Volunteer in Service to America. I wanted to make a difference in a community in need. I took the job knowing I wouldn’t get paid much but I know that it was what I needed to do, what God wanted me to do.

Fast forward to now, I got accepted to start my Master’s in Public Health concentrating in Epidemiology at Drexel University this Fall. I say all this to say that right now you may not know what you’re supposed to do or why you’re in this place but God’s got you. One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11‬ ‭

There is a plan and purpose for your life. If you would have asked me a year ago if I would have seen myself here, I would have definitely said no! Sure I’ve had to learn some things along the way, but I can honestly say that I’m happy. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.
I know one day (soon I promise ) you will be able to say the same thing too.