The Next Step

With graduation looming in May, I am at a crossroads in my life: what is my next step? For nearly four years, I have been a student at NKU and I have witnessed its growth as well as the growth within myself. But what comes after? When I declared Political Science as my major in the beginning of my sophomore year, I was absolutely sure that I would attend law school and become an attorney in a private firm. I was absolutely sure that my chosen career path was the best fit for me and my interests.

 Now, the day has arrived. I have applied to 10 law schools within 6 hours of Northern Kentucky and received many acceptances and enticing offers but it hasn’t felt like all the pieces were fitting together. If I have learned anything at NKU, it has been that my career-goal in life is to find happiness within a job. That seems silly; shouldn’t we all be happy in our chosen profession? But, too often, I witness many friends, family members, etc. that are not happy with the work they do every day. So my next question became: over the past four years, what courses, research and projects have felt important to me and did I enjoy working on?

The answer was very clear to me – in my spring semester of my sophomore year, I took a political science course (PSC 315) that was centered around learning to write and research material for a literature review. While my topic for the paper ending up being outside of my interests, I was given the chance to feel free to discuss ideas and my interests in environmental issues for my paper. The professor of the course, Dr. Weir, met with me and gave me some guidance on my dreams and how I could further my education to achieve those goals. Thinking back to that moment has made me realize the things that I am passionate about in life and what my future will be.

This is Tara exploring the environment outside of the classroom!

Too easily, we tend to think of our teachers (in all aspects of life) as un-reachable or un-relatable but I have found that the faculty within the department have been a great source of knowledge, advice and wisdom. The summer before my senior year at NKU, I took a careers course through the department that allowed me to meet and speak with many individuals in a wide variety of careers, from attorneys, FBI agents, community planners, and even non-profit directors. Part of the assignment for the course was to draft a resume and really reflect on what your personal career goals were which is when I realized how my interests in environmental topics and legislation could easily pan out to become a career.

When I asked myself two weeks ago what my next step would be, I thought about all the great experiences I have had with NKU and the opportunities that I have been fortunate to receive through the University and department and I realized how much I would miss that life, as if it were coming to an end. Today, I believe it is not an “end”; I have been given the tools, resources, advice and strength to make graduation a “beginning” to my career and life. So what is the next step? Where will I be in 6 months? I will continue my education, whether that turns out to be law school or a Masters program in Political Science. More importantly, I will be doing everything I can to make sure that my happiness and the things that I am passionate about are part of my future career.