Graduation is less than seven months away for me. Seven months – that’s a short time, but it also seems as if it can’t come quick enough. It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago, I was seriously considering dropping out of school. As you can imagine, the thought of actually finishing what I started is a thrilling one. Had I dropped out, I don’t know where I’d be – probably click-clacking my life away in an office somewhere. Now, don’t get me wrong. Office work is an admirable profession, just not the kind I imagined myself in when I first came to college.

So what’s next, you ask? Can anyone really say? Well, to start, finishing school is not an end to anything, but a beginning. There are many options available to graduates, if only they would keep their eyes open and look.

Work is one option. Unless you’ve got a whole lot of money waiting for you when you graduate, you’d better be prepared to make a little of your own. You may not fall directly into a job that is connected with your major, but don’t let that keep you from working – or from looking. There is nothing wrong with telling an employer you’ve found something better. Employers will take it as a sign of determination on your part and will respect you for it. And if they don’t, then they weren’t worth working for in the first place. Besides, any sort of work experience looks good on a resume.

Going back to school to earn a graduate degree is another option.

Ah, the prospect of more school – what could bring more joy to a student than another two years or so of study? There are several myths surrounding getting a graduate degree that I think are taken to heart far too often. One of these is that without one, all the good, well-paying jobs will be withheld from you. I don’t believe this is true, or it shouldn’t be true.

Getting a bachelor’s degree is hard work, too. The skills you gain during these four years are essential to any job, and as long as you can prove you are proficient in your area of study, employers should see you as an asset, not as incompetent.

That’s not to say that a graduate degree won’t make a difference in the amount of money you make; some jobs won’t even allow you a foot in the door without one, but it’s not the only thing that goes into making a well-rounded individual. I’m a big believer in life experience as being a necessary element in professional progress.

Now, I know many people who are getting or who have already gotten their master’s degrees or a Ph.D., but they either have done it for themselves or because the job they were going for required it. For them, the extra work is or was just a continuation of an already enjoyable process.

What you have to consider is whether a graduate degree is right for you. You may not want to go straight back to school after graduation. This is understandable, but you also probably do not want to wait too long. If you’re planning on waiting for life to settle down after graduation – and who knows when that will be – your proclivity toward school may run the risk of becoming stale. And this will only make it harder to go back.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.