The end of the winter semester is around the corner with graduation creeping up just behind it. Many students are faced with one question after they walk across that stage: What’s next?

It’s the time when we update resumes, write countless cover letters, and scour through job posting websites only to be left waiting for who-knows-how-long for a response. Waiting to hear from an employer can feel like an eternity. It can span from a couple of days to a couple of months.

You see yourself as more than qualified for a position and you check off all the boxes in the job description. The worst feeling is when you receive an automated response from AI, after months of waiting, only to let you know the company decided to proceed with another candidate.

It would be more personable to receive a thorough-written email from a human, thanking the applicant for taking the time to apply for the position rather than to get a half-assed response from a robot saying, “Thank you try again.” It serves no purpose but to destroy your confidence and motivation to keep the search going.

We are never sure what path we will take next. After my first program at the college, the feeling of “post-grad limbo” was unfamiliar to me.

From the moment I handed in my very last assignment in game design, I sat at my desk unsure of what was next. I had spent three years grinding away at schoolwork, day and night, never thinking about life after school, and for the first time, I was left at a crossroads that I was not prepared for.

I did what every other typical grad did and applied to every entry-level position there was online and waited for months on end to receive no response from any of the companies.

By midsummer, I had no energy or motivation and it spilled over into my personal life where it heavily affected my relationships with my friends and family. I felt like an embarrassment to myself and my family.

All I wanted to do was stay in my room, reflecting on where I went wrong in my applications or what I could have changed in my art pieces to make them more appealing.

For about a year and a half after graduating, I was unemployed most of the time and jumped from part-time seasonal work just to make enough money to pay bills. It wasn’t till the summer of 2022 when I landed a seasonal full-time position at a cemetery that I started to make decent cash.

While working there, I realized that this was not where I wanted to be and that I wasn’t using the skills I had invested three years into learning. I reached my final straw and decided that the following September, I was going to go back to school.

When joining my second program, Journalism- Broadcast, I finally got the sense of direction I was looking for. It allowed me to go to my very first career fair and speak to professionals about how I could properly present myself.

I know that once this semester wraps up, I’ll be back in the same spot I was in three years ago. What’s different now is that I won’t let the negativity get the best of me. There will be plenty of students who will be in the same position, feeling the same way about the uncertainty of the future after college.

The best way to overcome it is to build your network of contacts, continue to maintain a positive outlook and believe in yourself.