College Students! discussion

Me too!

I'm glad your Mom's car was found Tami! That's still a horrible thing to go through! :(

I don't even lock my car when I'm home but maybe I'll think twice about that now!

I never thought to lock the door from the garage into the house. Now it is locked.

I guess it was a 17 year old kid. He stole a car from his home town. It was found abandoned at the mall about8 blocks from my house. Then stole my moms car and drove it home.

Locking my car is my OCD tic. I always do it like 10 times before I realize it is already locked. Mom always teases me about it, but I can guarantee she will be like that now.

I'd never thought of locking it in the garage before either!

Tami, I'm the same way. I constantly worry about locking the doors to my car or the apartment! And yes, I'll turn around once I've left if I think I haven't locked it.

I don't have a garage...so my car is usually unlocked in the driveway. Oops. But I also live on a dead end street that's a bit back from the main road.

I'm OCD about making sure the house is locked before I leave. I check the front door quite a few times!

When we talked to the officer that did the report, he said that there are something like 20 frequencies that open garage doors. So you can take your opener and drive 5-10 streets by your own house and probably open a few others doors. They think that may be what the kid did to get to my moms car. We were sleeping so it would be really easy for him to have just slipped through the house. Scary!

Lori, I am glad I am not the only one that turns around. I have gone back out to the parking lot even when whoever is with me says they remember me locking the car. :)

Oh wow Tami, how scary! I'm so glad it turned out okay. I hope your mom is okay.

I also just wanted to say, glad to hear it all worked out, Tami. Good luck with everything!

I'm worried about a couple of my friends. One of them told me this week that she has thyroid cancer. It's scary. Several of my relatives have had cancer, and far too many of them have died from cancer. But a friend getting it, someone who is my age, is even scarier. They don't know much yet, but she has to have the entire thyroid removed. The surgery is a scary thing too, something could go wrong and it could damage her vocal chords. Not only would it be difficult, or impossible to speak, but she's a singer. It's part of her degree. It's so much a part of her they might as well chop off one of her limbs.

Another of my friends has something going on in her life, and I don't know what it is. When I was with her and another friend recently she told me that she had something she needed to talk to me about, but wanted to talk to me later because she didn't want our other friend to know yet. When I asked her about it later, she made up the excuse that it was late and we'd talk about it later.

I wish I could just fix stuff like this for them. I feel useless, the best I can do is be there for them and take them food when they need it... Which doesn't feel like much.

Tami: I'm glad they found the car!! It's pretty scary that someone can just open your door because of the limited number of frequencies!

Kimberly: It's always hard when you're worrying about a friend! Even when you feel useless, your friends know you're there for them! Also, I'll e-mail you when I've looked it up.

I'm sorry to hear about your friends, Kimberly. Just be there for them. Be their friend. Even if you don't talk about whatever is troubling your second friend, show her that you care for her by doing stuff with her. People don't always need someone to talk to, but they always need someone to show them that they matter.

Thyroid cancer is scary but one of the easier ones to treat. I hope she is okay and can still sing! And the best any friend can do is be there when their friends need them. Hopefully things turn out okay.

LIFE AFTER COLLEGE?

Hey everybody! So this is just my little 'ahh freaking out' moment that I thought I'd share since I know some of you have probably gone through this...

I'm in my fifth year of art school (undergrad), finishing up some credits and thesis stuff, the whole shebang. I'm kind of a chess player when it comes to life, so of course I'm thinking way ahead to next year, wondering what my next few moves are going to be to prepare for it, etc...and I just have to say, I'm so SCARED! I absolutely hate this hazy-future monster in my life right now. I know next semester (my last) is really the turning point where a lot of this stuff (possibly finding a new place to live, getting a job, adjusting to a new chapter in life, etc.) gets hashed out, but I can't help feeling like I'm ill-prepared already.

I don't want to dump all the little extra problems and quirks of my life on top of that because there's really no point and I know everyone has stuff like that. I guess I'm just looking for some advice from those of you that are currently experiencing life after graduation, or really from anybody with helpful ideas about dealing with this kind of stress.

So, recent grads: If you could go back and repeat this time in your life again, what would you do differently? Or what 'worked' for you? Can you think of anything I could do now or next semester that would make it any easier? Resources? Opportunities? Anything local (I'm planning on staying in or near Baltimore city) would be appreciated as well. Obviously we're all big readers here...did you find any articles or books that helped you through?

Sorry if this has been answered before...I just skimmed through some of this thread due to time constraints so if it has been discussed already if someone could point me in the right direction that'd be great.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Victoria

Honestly, my internship has helped a lot. I made fantastic connections and was hired for a special project the summer I graduated. My boss knows that I am interested in continuing to work once this project is over, so she is looking.

Are you thinking about grad school at all or have you even thought about it yet?

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I couldn't find a good job, moved back in with my parents, and went to grad school. I would have maybe waited on grad school to pay off some loans first.

To be fair, I am now married and hope to have a library job soon.

Internships are a great start. They give you experience and like Lori said, they can turn into a full time job.

Try joining clubs related to what you want to do for a career, or you can volunteer somewhere (seeing art school my first thought was a museum). Volunteering will introduce you to the right people that may be in positions of hiring or have an influence of new hires in their companies.

Good Luck! I don't think this is a situation you can be totally prepared for. :)

Lori wrote: "Honestly, my internship has helped a lot. I made fantastic connections and was hired for a special project the summer I graduated. My boss knows that I am interested in continuing to work once th..."

I haven't been able to fit an internship into my schedule. Most in my career (Graphic Design) are very competitive so even if I did have time I don't know if I would be able to get one?

As far as grad school, It's recommended (at least in my field) to take a few years off in between, so while I am thinking about it I'm pretty sure there will be at least a full-year lull in between my graduation and applying/starting grad school.


Tahleen wrote: "Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I couldn't find a good job, moved back in with my parents, and went to grad school. I would have maybe waited on grad school to pay off some loans first.

To be fair,..."

Tahleen this is my worst fear! I would rather work around the clock for minimum wage than move back home!


Tami wrote: "Internships are a great start. They give you experience and like Lori said, they can turn into a full time job.

Try joining clubs related to what you want to do for a career, or you can volunteer..."

Thanks Tami. All of this is really great advice to think about. I have been wanting to volunteer for a while now, I just haven't had the time. Of course I need to FIND the time, because this is my future! I'm finding it's very hard to work a dead-end job and go to school full-time senior year.

I'm not sure whether it's comforting or terrifying that I can't be totally prepared for this...

I don't mean to harp on this, but maybe once you finish school you can do an internship or volunteer. Then you won't have both school and work to juggle. I understand about the internships being competitive, but maybe you can get one. You'll never know unless you try.

You're in good company--none of us can really be prepared for what comes next.

Oh geez! What luck for you, Ian haha. I hope it was nothing serious.

haha, oh wow. Talk about bad timing...