Moving On

College grads prepare for next phase

Jobs, traveling and grad school among plans

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For many students, the summer months are a time for relaxation and vacations, but many local college graduates are pursuing their next chapter in life. This is a very important time for college graduates, as they enter the real world and try to chase their dreams in an extremely competitive job market.

Samantha Michelle, a Seaford resident who graduated from MacArthur High School in 2010, earned a bachelor’s degree in childhood and special education from Saint Rose University. She said she was fortunate enough to land an assistant teaching position at the Hagedorn Little Village School in Seaford. While working there, she will also be attending graduate school at Touro College in the fall.

Though Michelle was able to earn a position as an assistant teacher, she said, “The job market is definitely intense and competitive.” She said she believes her college professors and courses fostered her love of education, which will help her stand out in the job market.

Wantagh resident Matthew Burke graduated from Wantagh High School in 2011 and recently from SUNY New Paltz. He earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design. Burke agreed with Michelle about the job market. “It’s not easy,” he said, “but if you’re passionate about a specific company or a certain position, it goes a long way if you reach out and express that interest in a genuine way.”

Burke was able to follow his own advice, and accepted a position as a junior graphic designer at Theory, a New York-based men and women’s contemporary fashion label. He said he would use the opportunity to gain more knowledge and experience in the field. “I’m just trying to learn as much as possible from the successful people around me and recognize the kind of work that I like to do,” he said, “so that I end up exactly where I’m supposed to be in the future.”

While many graduates are jumping right into the workforce, some are also taking the opportunity to travel the world and experience new cultures before starting a job.

Kellie Palladino, of Seaford, recently graduated from Ithaca College, earning a degree in communications management and design. Her goal is to one day become a communications consultant, but before she applies for jobs in the New York City area, Palladino said, she wants to “take some time off to travel with my family and take a break.” She added, “My study-abroad experience really taught me to enjoy every aspect of new places and make the most of every unique experience I was lucky enough to have.”

A common response among graduates was that college prepared them well for their next phase in life. Wantagh resident Payal Batra graduated from SUNY New Paltz, earning a degree in public relations and Spanish. She said the opportunity to go away to school helped her learn a lot and grow as an individual. “Just going away to college helped me gain plenty of responsibility being on my own,” she said. “I also had jobs like being a [resident assistant] and tour guide, which helped me gain leadership skills that will come in handy doing any job in the future.”

Batra is interning now with a company that helps both domestic and international college students find internships in New York City. It runs through August, and she is looking for a full-time job. “I think the job market is better than what it was,” she said, “but I think it still is so hard to get a job. Honestly, there are jobs out there, but the good jobs with benefits and a nice salary you can’t get without sometime of connection. It’s all about who you know, not what you know.”

James Farrell, of Wantagh, and Amanda Lipari, of Seaford, will both be pursing graduate degrees in the fall.

Farrell graduated from Boston College with a degree in English and a minor in music. Though he went in unsure of a major, he managed to discover his true passion. “I went in undecided, but I’ve always loved to write,” Farrell said. “After I took a college-level English class for the first time my sophomore year, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I figured if I wanted to write, I should cultivate that.”

He will be pursing his passion in graduate school at Columbia University, where he will be studying journalism. Farrell is not entirely sure what kind of journalism he will focus on, but he said he would like to write magazine-style features, and hopes to one day “end up being a music critic or an investigative journalist specializing in social issues.”

Lipari graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a degree in English and minors in philosophy and women’s studies, and will attend Brooklyn Law School in the fall. “I picked my fields of study because law school was my plan,” she said. “I always enjoyed analyzing texts, so I knew English would be a good fit.” She added that she hopes to one day become an activist and focus on domestic violence.