{"id":121,"date":"2020-05-18T00:01:44","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T00:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/?p=121"},"modified":"2020-05-18T22:45:29","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T22:45:29","slug":"supporting-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/2020\/05\/18\/supporting-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting Seniors’ Post-Graduation Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Abbey Martin<\/a><\/p>\n

Take a moment to think about how you might feel right now if you were a graduating senior. Would you be excited? Relieved? Stressed? I\u2019d likely be feeling all of these things (and more!). I might also feel disappointed that I\u2019m missing out on graduation activities I\u2019d looked forward to, or be worried about finding a job after college\u2014especially right now.<\/p>\n

While \u201cwhat are you going to do next?\u201d or \u201cWhat are your plans after college?\u201d are common questions, these can feel overwhelming for students to answer. I reached out to ASC student staff and asked what they\u2019d find helpful in a conversation about next steps after graduation. Here are some questions and ideas they came up with:<\/p>\n

How can I support you as you prepare for graduation and what comes after?<\/h2>\n

An overwhelming theme students shared was wanting to feel supported and cared for by faculty and staff as they navigate next steps. Some students would like to hear about tools and resources for career exploration. Maria, a strategist, noted that she\u2019d find it helpful if faculty and staff shared their experiences and what they would have done differently post-graduation. Others thought check-ins with a professor would help them prepare for next steps. What\u2019s helpful can vary by person. The best way to know what each student wants or needs is simply to ask.<\/p>\n

What fields, career paths, or positions are you interested in? Tell me all of the possibilities you\u2019ve thought of.<\/h2>\n

Many students shared that they don\u2019t know what field they want to enter after college. They also mentioned feeling pressure to have an acceptable answer for those who ask. Catie, an Academic Coach, shared, \u201cUsually the question I get asked is, \u2018What do you want to do?\u2019 Getting asked that question so much kind of forced me to come up with a routine answer that wasn\u2019t entirely accurate but was at least something <\/em>to respond with. I think [it] also subconsciously discouraged me from having an open mind about other possibilities.\u201d If students are not ready to name one concrete path, we can support them in their exploration process.<\/p>\n

What aren\u2019t<\/em> you interested in?<\/h2>\n

Molly, an Academic Coach, shared, \u201c[A] tool that really helped me in finding what I wanted was being asked what I didn\u2019t want… It made narrowing down what I could potentially want much easier.\u201d Students may not be ready to fully commit to one interest area, but they may have ideas for things they definitely don\u2019t<\/em> want. Exploring those can be a powerful form of self-reflection.<\/p>\n

What do you want your next step to be? What do you need to get there?<\/h2>\n

Focusing on the big picture can feel overwhelming, but breaking things down into smaller, manageable steps can be helpful. Some students simply want to process those next steps aloud. Aarya, a Strategist, shared, \u201cFor me, the answer [of what I\u2019ll do next] has always been broad. I want to eventually become a doctor, but what [happens before that] has been\u2014and still is\u2014difficult to answer because the path is long, and the end is still far out of sight.\u201d Other students echoed this sentiment, saying they would find it helpful to identify more immediate next steps vs. only focusing on long-term goals.<\/p>\n

Focus on Supporting Students<\/h2>\n

If you have the opportunity to talk 1:1 with a student and support their thinking, keep in mind that the most important thing isn\u2019t always what <\/em>question you ask; it\u2019s how<\/em> you ask it. \u00a0I\u2019d encourage you to try one of these questions in your conversation. Remember to listen well, validate often, and empathize. Each student I talked to wanted to feel like they had people on campus who supported them and who would listen to and think with them. Let\u2019s be those people!<\/p>\n

Want ideas for conversation starters or more informal questions related to the excitement around graduation? Check out 10 Questions to Ask Graduating Seniors Instead of \u201cWhat Are You Going to Do Next!?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Abbey Martin Take a moment to think about how you might feel right now if you were a graduating senior. Would you be excited? Relieved? Stressed? I\u2019d likely be feeling all of these things (and more!). I might also feel disappointed that I\u2019m missing out on graduation activities I\u2019d looked forward to, or be … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Supporting Seniors’ Post-Graduation Thinking”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2020-issue-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions\/128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}