Students enter college coming from endlessly different backgrounds, walking various paths throughout their higher education journeys and gaining new experiences along the way – but our stories all end the same. We all must find a way to move on, out and into the “real world” after our time at Marquette University.
From the time we are children, we learn to look forward to what’s next in our educational journeys. When we begin our experience as elementary students, we imagine what it will be like to enter middle school. Throughout middle school, we look ahead to the excitement and endeavors of high school. During high school, we expend so much energy wondering if, where and when we will go to college. But for those of us who enter college, the question of what will become of our lives afterward is sometimes unwritten up until the very end.
One of the most important responsibilities of a university is to equip its students for the workforce once they graduate – and even more so, how to be contributing citizens of the world. What can we expect Marquette to do in order to prepare us for these duties?
A notable program that Marquette has implemented in order to better prepare its students for post–college life is the Marquette Mentors program.
For the last ten years, Marquette Mentors has connected current students with alumni in order to create opportunities for students to advance in their specific career fields and learn from people who are a part of the industry they seek to get involved in. These mentor–mentee relationships provide frequent communication, guidance with resumes and job applications, career path guidance and shadowing opportunities.
However, it should be noted that this program has a rigorous application and interview process that may eliminate students based on their grade point average and university involvement. Although the program has many wonderful features, not all students will be admitted.
Within the Career Services Center sector of Marquette, there is post–graduation planning.
Students can schedule an appointment with an advisor within the center and speak with them regarding how they can better seek out career and service opportunities after graduation. This program is available to all students and easily accessible on Marquette’s website.
Marquette’s CIRCLES program is a networking community that allows students to connect with “industry leaders and academic experts.” In the upcoming academic year, there are networking events for students to take advantage of in New York City, Southern California and Chicago. This kind of travel can be a barrier for students, but the program can still be accessed virtually.
Many of the programs available at Marquette involve alumni who help students to find opportunities in their chosen career fields. These alumni can be commended for offering up not only their money but their time, energy and knowledge of each given industry. All of this has a lasting and invaluable impact on the Marquette community – and it is also telling about the kind of environment and culture the university breeds.
The transition from collegiate to post–graduation life can be a difficult one for many people.
While we are in college, we are surrounded by peers, organizations tailored to our interests and an expansive social life filled with formals, parties and events. When that all goes away, and students are sent off with a diploma and a million aspirations, it can be a jarring experience.
College is an investment. There are important commitments that need to be upheld by universities and the students that attend them. Finding a job after college ultimately falls on the graduates, but there are ways that Marquette can guide them and provide them with resources to make the search earlier.
Marquette has some viable options for assisting with job placement post-graduation. But, some of them are inaccessible to students depending on their educational merit and the money they have to spend at a given time. With that, Marquette could create some more widely accessible, specified job placement and exposure resources. This would be especially helpful if they targeted these programs college by college.
Finding a place in the world can be daunting, but with the help of Marquette and having grace for ourselves after we leave it, hopefully, we can all build the brightest futures following college.
Editorial topics by the Marquette Wire are decided at weekly meetings between members of the executive board. The editorial is crafted with leadership by the executive opinions editor. The executive board consists of the executive director of the Wire, managing editor of the Marquette Tribune, managing editor of the Marquette Journal, general manager of MUTV, general manager of MUR and ten additional top editors across the organization.
