Just a little over a month ago but not quite two months ago, myself and many others graduated from Oregon State University, an educational milestone and conclusion to my time as an undergraduate student. Now, it was time for the new chapters of my life to begin.
What are You Doing After You Graduate?
A question asked more frequently when you enter your final year as an undergraduate student, speaking from personal experience. When approached with this question, I did not hold back from telling the truth as it brought intrinsic motivation I otherwise could have ignored. It is completely understandable to respond with "I don't know" as I said this exact thing along with sharing a direction.
As a visual learner, I often spend alone time in my imagination and envisioning myself in different spaces and environments and possible creative artwork. Previous thoughts included but not limited to: there are glass resident garden-sized greenhouses in the background and I am teaching a workshop, my hydrangea garden is at its peak year with all garden spaces occupied with all hydrangea types and colors, my first home with more garden area than home area, and more. A glance of future aspirations and dreams.
These are the dreams I am pursuing in my personal life but what about the career pathway? I realized this a few weeks before beginning my senior fall term in September 2023. At this time, I just began my new leadership roles with my clubs and organizations, a set work schedule, 2-hour roundtrip commute to and from campus, enrolled as full-time student (12 credits), scheduled club events, other life happenings, and an 8am in-person class to start most of my weekdays (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays if we are getting specific).
The fall term overview I shared is only the surface however, it brings more context to my decision back then to live in the present, adjust and get into the rhythm of campus life again, and the least I can do to move forward in a direction is attend the Agriculture Career Fair on-campus. Also, I had updated my resume, got business cards, I personally refer to as contact cards, and accepted all the unsuccessful career efforts coming my way.
I am incredibly thankful for those unsuccessful career efforts because I found that what I learned that efforts make a significant impact to my vision and are now stories I can share along with the "I don't know". Soon after some of these efforts, I included in my response how I was handling the uncertainities and new career insights when others gave me the opportunity and chance to put myself out there and influence my growth today. There are more stories to share from this time and the rest of my senior year; I am going to share those at another time.
Graduate School... It's Happening!
When an opportunity comes your way, seek out more information and go from there. Exactly what I did when I attended a research symposium and became aware of funded graduate assistantship opportunites for fall 2024 at other universities.
With another story from fall 2023, I was asked if I was going to apply for a certain graduate program. My response then was no, as I had a recent job interview and was unsure if I had a job offer lined up. Although graduate school was something I knew was going to eventually happen somewhere in my life's timeline, I had doubts with what I had done so far then would get me into graduate school and different perspective than today.
Once I overcame the uncertainities from the little "t" truth belief and not receiving the job offer, the timing of graduate assistantship opportunity landed just right (plus the foreshadowed signs I mentally noted). Luckily by this time too, I was conducting undergraduate research and receiving tremendous support from both faculty mentors and peers to bounce be back to the confidence to apply.
One of my mentors I had monthly meetings with definitely heard all the knitty gritty minute details of all my feelings, thoughts, and updates about the whole process. I was the first in my family to apply for graduate school so they could only provide so much support. With limited family support, peers, faculty, and friends made each day reassuring and their words of encouragment prevented me from giving into the self-doubt.
Just as I was about to leave in the morning for a weekend retreat with five minutes to spare, on April 12, 2024, I received a follow-up email from a recent meeting I had with faculty about the potential graduate opportunity I applied to and long story short, I got offered the graduate assistantship as a research assistant and all the graduate tutition covered.
I immediately called my parents who had already left that morning and tried to remain collected (but not calm, instead excited). Before sharing with friends, there were a few mentors I wanted to share the news which was delayed for a few hours as I had no cell service during the road trip to the retreat I mentioned earlier.
After a few days, I made the decision to accept the offer, have post-graduation plans, and most importantly give it my all and committment to come back to Oregon even stronger to make everyone proud and share the impact of their advice. For now, I am moving to New Mexico in two and half weeks to attend New Mexico State University for the next two years. I know I will have some time to visit home and I am all good with having no set date in mind to settle back in Oregon. I have a feeling there are other opportunities to seize before then. Even with what I have experienced in the past year, changes occurred along the way.
Keeping Up in Life Planning & Goals
Living in the present is important and experiencing more that there is to life. However, I did not get where I am today without dedicated time and efforts to researching opportunities, exploring new information, and journaling my findings.
With the short two-month summer break I have before getting busy with campus life again, I figured it would be a good time to explore career opportunities related to my interests and navigating PhD programs related to agricultural communications, agricultural education, and horticulture. Currently, I am in the early stages with an introductory approach so when it is time to complete applications, I have preparation materials already in the works and a well laid foundation ready.
When it comes to where I envision myself in a few years, as of now, I see both a career in the agricultural industry and or doctoral studies. I look forward to see how this will take shape~
Written by Elia Rybolt | Originally Published July 21st, 2024
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