Hello! My name is Brenda, and I’m one of the Creative Directors at CryoDragon Inc. I’m also completing a PhD degree in the field of Nanobiophysics at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Dr. Zoya Leonenko. Throughout my 7 years in university, I have learnt a lot about academic, campus, and work life as well as how to balance all these using tactful time management skills. So, I thought I’d share some tips and experiences with everyone in case they have questions about graduate studies or life after undergrad.
In the past, education was almost like a guarantee for success. The higher your education, the more stable and bountiful your job opportunities were. Things are different nowadays. More and more people are going to college and university, which means more and more people are getting diplomas and degrees. What was once a rare and difficult feat has become a norm amongst job-seekers. In the past, individuals with a higher credentials would essentially beat out their competition. Nowadays, there are so many people with these credentials that the competition has become a brutal battlefield, where employers have to look elsewhere to compare different job candidates. This means volunteer experience, hobbies, and other academic or work experiences that others may not have.
It also doesn’t help that the tuition costs for these credentials increase on a regular basis, incurring greater debt amongst recent graduates. This accentuates the problem even more, because more graduates cannot find jobs and are in greater debt than the generation before them. What now? In an effort to find a job, a lot of recent graduates go back to school, either for graduate certificates or graduate studies to obtain a Masters or Doctoral degree. But will it help? How can you know for sure? The only thing for certain is that you’ll be incurring even more debt because you’re pursuing additional education.
Throughout my time in undergraduate studies, I’ve seen a lot of my friends struggle in this regard. The majority of my peers had no idea what they wanted to do in the future while the rest had one goal in mind. Rarely did anyone have a “Plan B” in case things didn’t work out. And rarely do things go as perfectly as planned. So a lot of my friends and peers struggled in their senior years to figure out what to do with their lives after they graduated. Some decided to go back to school and pursue a graduate degree, while others decided to get a job first, which may or may not have been in their field of interest.
During my time in graduate studies, I’ve seen this trend evolve into a concerning issue. In fact, I recently found out that Wikipedia even has a page called Graduate Unemployment to explain this growing problem! As a teaching assistant and mentor to undergraduate students, I always get asked why I ended up in graduate school and whether it was planned or unplanned. My answer to them is simple: I took advantage of all the opportunities provided to me in my undergraduate studies and I explored different areas of interest until I found a few things I enjoyed. Research and graduate school was on the top of my list, along with some other things like graphic design and medicine. They’re still on my list, but in no particular order.
After all I have seen and experienced throughout my academic career, I have one takeaway lesson: to explore different interests early on and take part in different roles and activities. Not only to improve your resume, but to find backup plans or a greater plan for your future. Even if you already have a plan in mind, take a chance and immerse yourself in different experiences to benefit yourself. There are many roads that lead to the same destination, and making the best of every twist and turn you take will only benefit you when you arrive at your target.
