When I started my college career in Fall 2015, the path I planned to take was much different from where I am now. What I mean by this is that I didn’t expect to be an English major when I started as a chemistry major my freshman year.
Now, looking back on my college experience as I grow closer to being a “real” adult, I realize how much of an amazing time I have had the in last five years. Don’t get me wrong; there is a lot about college that I regret; guys I wish I hadn’t dated and friends I wish I had never made. But even with the bad, college has helped me grow into who I am now.
I have a lot that I can thank my college experience for but sometimes I wonder if I am actually prepared as I need to be for the working world; I am told I am. Yes, college has taught me a lot about being an editor and a writer and I feel confident in my skills, but getting a job is so much more than that. We are not taught how to actually do a job (at least in my situation, other majors may be different) until we actually start a job.
The biggest thing that I have noticed is that while I apply for jobs, as I read the description the companies give, I do not feel like I’m actually qualified for any of them. That’s a fear that I did not intend to ever have during my graduation semester. I expected to be fully ready to go into the working field knowing exactly what it meant to be an editor and a writer; that’s what I was told when I started, I would be ready.
Now, I am not going to blame UW-Platteville for not preparing me enough to enter my field. I just feel like they over-promise what it means to be ready. I never should have assumed that I would be ready to graduate when the time came, because frankly I am not. I do not want to leave behind my friends, and I am not looking forward to my time as a staff member at the Exponent to come to an end.