Acorn

Upon graduation, senior Alex Barron is planning to relocate from his home in Maryland to Austin, Texas. There he will embark on a summer tour of the west coast with up-and-coming country singer, Danny Malone. Malone is a musician who briefly attended Drew, and is why and how the two first met.

Barron may be set on exploring life on the road as a musician but he also has no worries should he have to find work in the future. �It�s not scary,� Barron said. �The past four years have prepared me. I�m confident in trying to find a job.�

This is the overall sentiment of seniors who will be graduating on May 20.

�It�s exciting and nerve-racking� said senior Pami Longo about graduating in the spring. �And it�s also surprisingly bittersweet.�

Commencement for the class of 2006 will formally mark the end of seniors� undergraduate studies at Drew. At the same time it will herald their entrance into the proverbial �real world.� And they are all pursuing their post-graduation endeavors in different ways.

While some will be looking to continue their education, the majority of the senior class will be starting work immediately.

�Usually we have around 20 percent of students going to graduate school while the rest go into work. Employers have learned over the years to appreciate the liberal arts.� said Sue Ceravolo, assistant director of the Career Center.

Ceravolo is a staunch advocate of networking, a service that the Career Center and Alumni House offer to students.

�Networking is the number one way people find jobs,� she said.

This is how senior Aaron Mittica landed his post-Drew job. Though his intention of being a high school chemistry teacher was hindered because Drew does not offer degrees in education, he did not let that stop him.

Mittica is taking advantage of services offered by the Educational Resources Group (ERGteach.com). ERG sends job-specific resumes to schools looking to hire independent teachers.

In Mittica�s case, his resum�will be sent to private schools in the Philadelphia area that are seeking chemistry teachers. All of this is at no cost to him. Along with the help of previously established connections from friends, Mittica does not see the lack of a teaching degree as a problem.

Networking also played a key role in Student Government Association President senior Adam Alonso�s job search. Alonso attributes his success to the web of connections set up by Drew faculty.

�I spoke to professors and trustees who talked to people at their own firms,� he said.

After coming to terms with what he personally wanted in a job, Alonso was able to filter through his available options to find the one that best suited him. This process ultimately garnered a position at a bonds trading firm on Wall Street.

It is this kind of fortitude that has impressed Ceravolo.

�Students have been very pro-active in their job searches,� she said.

The popular job search website Monster.com has now started a subsidiary website that caters to college-grads: MonsterTrak.com. MonsterTrak lists job openings based on individual preferences like academic major and desired location. Other job sites, like Indeed.com, have been growing in popularity amongst college grads.

The Internet can also be an invaluable tool in the search for graduate schools.

Senior Rachel Kurkowski, recently accepted to Columbia University, did most of her school searching on her own.

�Searching for graduate schools is more based on independent work,� she said. �When looking for undergraduate schools information was sent to you, grad schools don�t usually send out info until after you�ve taken GREs.�

Alonso might as well have been speaking for every member of his class when he said, �Drew has prepared me to start working.� Whether their plans after Drew are clear or the choices are still being considered, what these seniors commonly share is the confidence that they are ready to take the next step.

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