Moving away from home for the first year of college forces many of us to become independent. After those short four years, moving away from college, job searching, dealing with bad credit while paying off student loans or moving out of state may seem like the ultimate test.

Spring semester has begun, but for some of us it is the final stretch of our college careers as we search for jobs and think about what awaits us in the future.

According to the New York Times, about 2 million people graduate from college each year. The stress and anxiety that follows distracts recent grads from the happy experience of accomplishment and switches focus towards creating the life one has always imagined.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded that the unemployment rate for people age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more is 2.1 percent as of August 2018 compared to 2.4 percent a year earlier. The same study found that the unemployment rate for people with some college or an associates degree is 3.5 percent.

Despite the raise in the employment of college grads in the previous year, college students like freshman Savannah Dyal who are pursuing a psychology major struggle with confidence when it comes to life after college.

“I don’t feel confident in life after college because nothing is guaranteed” said Dyal as she explained her feelings towards the government and  economy. She said that this has affected her desire to pursue her true passion and to change career paths.

“My anxiety doubles when I think about how much debt I will be in from my degree. I have no idea how I am going to make it afterwards,” said Dyal.

UNF offers career services that assist students in exploring or changing majors and helps UNF Alumni, one year past graduation, through career counseling appointments and career assessments.

“Finding a job is very stressful and doing that while trying to take classes for your last semester and finishing everything up, I think that can cause general anxiety as a whole,”  said Brooke Hammon, Employer Relations Coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Hammon suggests contacting your academic adviser to look for internships that serve as an asset on your resume. This may help alleviate anxiety commonly seen in students who visit career services.

“I wish that we could get our word out about this office because I think that our career centers do so much to help students prepare for the next step in finding a job, making sure that they’re prepared and feel confident in their job search,” said Hammon.

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