Gone...but where to? Graduates embrace the grind and adventure

Author: Joe Bergan

The future. It is a daunting topic of conversation, especially for Middlebury students who can measure their remaining time at the College in months. The seniors holding this paper in the dining halls right now have just started sweating at the thought what happens in June 2008. Middlebury seniors already face a tremendous amount of pressure completing theses, final theatre performances or lab work. Perhaps the most daunting aspect of "the job search" is the uncertainty. Unlike a college homework assignment, in the job search, long hours of researching, phone calling, etiquette classes and networking may still result in failure.

And a caution to underclassmen - "the future" is a horrible monster that needs to be quelled at every turn of your college career. However, there are plenty of "ships" to catch - internship, fellowship and leadership - while floating through your years in this bucolic paradise and can fast track your "future."

But on top of all that, everyone is telling you "do what you want!" and "do what you are!" When is there time to soul search? What the heck are you going to do? The first step is to relax. Ace the test next week and finish that thesis strong. This may be the last time in a long time you can research and study exactly what you want. Second - read this section, as Middlebury students past and present share views of the future and what could have been. Law students, undecideds and adventurers leave some pearls of wisdom for all of us struggling to find our way to the future.



"Right when I graduated, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do," said Kris Burfitt '05, a music major from Morristown, N.J. Now a second year law student at Seton Hall, Burfitt's job search followed a steady trajectory throughout his senior year at Middlebury.

"I took the LSAT my senior fall but none of my family and my friends were lawyers so I got a job working as a paralegal in New Jersey," he said. "I did that for a year and then applied to law school while I was working."

Burfitt has the ability that most successful graduates posses - making life after college sound easy.

"There was a little apprehension, but not really angst," said Burfitt of his final year at the College. "It's just you've always known that next year you'd be at school."

However, Burfitt also remembered the difficult times that year before the paralegal job and the law school acceptance.

"I started looking for jobs my senior spring and didn't really have much luck - I got my job in August and started in September," he said.

Eric Lonstein '08 knows what that senior apprehension feels like. Lonstein, who has an interest in financial consulting, is feeling the heat from the outside world pull on this year's job search.

"This semester in particular is a hard one in which to find jobs, particularly with the credit crunch in the stock market," he said. But Lonstein had a head start, using his summer to his advantage.

"I did a business consulting internship over the summer, which confirmed for me that consulting was what I wanted to do when I graduated," said Lonstein, an International Politics and Economics major with a Chinese language focus.

One cliche about liberal arts schools is that a liberal arts degree will not secure a job upon graduation. Polly Johnson '07, a History of Art and Architecture major who now works as a paralegal in New York, praises the skills the sometimes impractical liberal arts bestowed upon her.

"I can say with full conviction that Middlebury more than prepared me for life post-graduation," said Johnson. "I am extremely confident in my communication skills - both written and verbal - skills that are among the most important in a work setting."

Nonetheless, for current job seekers like Lonstein, the search remains daunting.

"It's almost like a fifth class," he said. "You spend so much time researching for these jobs, and it's very time-consuming and stressful."

The hiring process also drags on.

"For second- or even third-round interviews you often have to travel and miss class," said Lonstein. "I started looking for jobs in the beginning of September, and I made three trips to Boston to interview with consulting firms there because that's where I want to work."

While some students are spending long nights searching the Web and rolodexes for their first job, other students are less willing to jump into the fray just yet.

"I feel like there's no time to seriously prepare for life after college right now," said Olivia Lew '07.5, who, unlike the other seniors, will be ending her college career at the end of January, not May. While this pressure may be big enough to crunch others, Lew is remaining calm.

"I'm really not sure yet what I want to do after college - maybe something related to international public health," she said. "I'm still trying to figure out in which direction to go."

Figuring out directions is a key part of life, not just of the end of senior year. Burfitt still struggles with combining his personal goals within a professional framework.

"My second goal is to be an entertainment lawyer," he said. "I was a music major here. I still want to have music as part of my life."

But the future doesn't always have to include graduate school or a loft apartment without a bathroom in Manhattan.

Tommy Heitkamp '06.5 has approached his postgraduate years in a completely unique way.

"I didn't really do the job search thing," Heitkamp said. "I had already planned to do the Mongol Rally."

The Mongol Rally, a race from Hyde Park, London to Mongolia is a charity rally comprising of 200 1-liter tank cars filled with free-flowing participants. Heitkamp hopped in a car that is only equipped to travel across a city and rode it to its death across two continents. Heitkamp worked all spring after his February graduation to raise enough money to fund a car for the race.

"I made all my money doing a sleep study at the Bringham Women's Hospital at Harvard University," he said. "I sold my body to science to finance my trip."

Heitkamp was never interested in finding a job because of the money.

"I was a Religion major," he said. "I figured money would come later, but who are we kidding - probably not."

So now that Heitkamp has released his jollies on the rest of the world, he is setting his sights a domestic frontier.

"In a couple weeks I'm moving to Los Angeles," Heitkamp said. "I want to do set work - first building and eventually designing."

Heitkamp will join Jeff King '06 in Los Angeles and will be driving out with David Lindholm '06. Heitkamp's future still remains uncertain, but he is not fazed.

"I have a place to sleep and I'm going to wing it, because I wing everything," he said.

As that fateful graduation day approaches, there is a reassurance in the fact that most graduates are struggling to come to terms with "the future." A man of wisdom, Heitkamp has some great words of wisdom for every student worrying about life after college.

"I'm a religion major," he said "I'm not using my major, and everyone needs to chill out."

Additional reporting by Mary Lane.