It is like all of a sudden, and I have been a blogger for almost one year. I am so thankful and proud to be an IOSL and a ISSS blogger in my college year. This experience is one of the best things I have ever done in my college year.
Time goes fast, and it is about the end of spring semester, which means that I will be a senior next semester. I am happy that I have only one year to go, but also, at this point of my life, I begin to think about my life after college.
I am not an early bird, lots of my peers, especially international students, have been planning for their future way ahead. My roommate is studying for GRE: a standard test like SAT or ACT that you need a nice score for applying for some of the graduate schools, or GMAT, if you are in non-STEM majors. For some of my friends who want to apply for law school, they are studying for LSAT, which is the standard test for law school. Some of my friends want to work after graduation, and they are busy looking for internship or full time job.
For me, honestly speaking I have no idea. But it occurs to me that I'm already a grown up and it's not like back when I was senior in high school, and my parents decided everything for me. The world awaits me, and it's just up to me to choose.
The first choice is probably to find a job. As an international student, to legally work in US after graduation requires OPT. So if I am graduating next year, I have to apply for OPT way before so that I can have the work authorization. Many international students found internships during summer breaks or full time job after graduation. I have been applying for jobs that related to my major since sophomore year, and had several interviews already. Although I did not receive an offer yet, I believe that I can utilize what I learned in college in the real life to help the others. Speaking of location, it actually makes no difference for me where to work, so if there is opportunity to work at anywhere in the world, I would love to go. However, since I am used to being a student, I am not sure if I can handle the transition between student and career.
The next one is to apply for graduate school. In graduate school I can study the field that interested me in depth and do some research and learn more about my major. In that way, some research experiences during undergraduate year will definitely be helpful. Also, it is essential to get recommendation letters for the graduate program. What’s more, just as I mentioned above, GRE or GMAT scores. It’s not like the higher score you got, the better graduate school you can apply, but a decent GRE score is always good. What’s more, personal statement, resume… There is long way to go. But step-by-step, it is always possible for you to get into the program that suits you the best.
The other option on the list is gap year. I have been a student for so many years, sometimes many of my friends chose to travel around the world or go to Bible school or teach in community for one year or two after college. It will be a really refreshing experience to just do something new and explore, and be in adventure. Because like come on, we can only be young once, put yourselves in a pattern of rejecting any limitation! Well, I would love to do anything I like during gap year but I might drive my parents nuts since they are protective of me.
So as you can see, I really have difficulty making decision, especially big decision in my life. But who knows, probably my mind would change in the following year and I would do something that I have no idea right now. The only thing I am sure about is that even if I graduated, I will always be part of U of I and I will be proud of orange and blue all my life. The future awaits, just go for it!