It seems like this is the question of anyone who steps in a college or a university to get a degree or of anyone who has already graduated from college:

What will happen to me after college? Where do this life take me after college?

This nagging question bugs everyone who is in the tertiary level. Somehow you got to ask yourself, “What the hell am I going to be doing after I graduate from this degree?”. Somehow there will come a time when you will be asking yourself of where your college degree take you. From a first look, it’s really hard to answer the question because of several factors. We make our own decisions in life but life is very uncertain. We may have plans now but through uncertainties we may find our plans unrealized or destroyed. It’s not pessimism, it’s just the grim reality. We may have plans for our college degree and after it but uncertainty challenges it. The greatest plans that have been accomplished have been always challenged by uncertainty in this world and this life after college thing is no exception. You may be a consistent dean’s lister during your college years but uncertainty subtly levels up things in the real world. Uncertainty complicates things. How many college students have you seen screw up their lives and fail to finish their college education or how many people have you seen graduate from college but have found their lives screwed up after the portals of their schools? There have been so many of them and it’s really uncertain who of us will be next in line of those people who have gone stray and demented.

You also have there the question of marriage and kids, but that’s an altogether different discussion. Let’s not delve in too much about those things.

Some people are also influenced by other people, mostly by the parents since in most cases they are the providers of our college education. Take the case of the parents of a college student who want their child to graduate with this certain degree and take this career path right after graduation. Sometimes things like that are inevitable. Friends are also a major source of factors that can affect your chosen career path. They may try to influence you to to go on a life and career path as same as the circle of friends that you have. Social movers can also inspire you. The best example are the people we admire and the people we look up to. One might decide to follow the road of life that the person he admires took after college. There are a lot of choices for us. That’s the positive note of uncertainty. We are presented with several choices and we are given the freedom to choose and to try to make our own life up.

And so with uncertainty, many things could happen to many people after college. Some people end up in multi-national corporations as officers especially if they are that damn good both on and off the classroom, there are those who become employees in offices, some can end up in call centers answering calls, and some can end up jobless after college. But there are also people who find their real career path and their way of life after graduation. Many people also find where their passion really is after collegiate life. We’ve heard many stories of persons going a certain path in college just to realize that they just found their passion and the things that they would love doing after college. And that does not really automatically mean that they did not like the previous path that they have traversed, it’s just that they have so much passion for the latter. Uncertainty also allows people to shop around options. Anyway, it’s our own life to make. We have choices. We also have decisions to make - decisions that can either make or break us in the face of adversity and uncertainty. We really have to be ready in the face of uncertainty.

I have been also asking that nagging question to myself several times before. I am currently taking up Economics and Business management and I still can’t say where this degree can take me. There are many paths that I can traverse after I finish up my whole degree in 2009. I could work for a consultancy firm, I could work for the ADB as an economist, I could work in multinational corporations as an analyst or consultant, I could set up my own business, I could be a plant manager. My college diploma can allow me to make choices in my career path. Ironically, I can also also end up jobless. It’s really uncertain - and the question gets back and gets back at me everytime I finish up a term. It gets back at me everytime I near graduation time. It’s like death staring me eye-to-eye and waiting for me to be gobbled up. And there are more questions. What if my real path after college is not in economics and business management? What if I’m due for something more special in the real world? Will I suck big-time after college? Will I be able to find a good-paying job? Will I die right after I graduate? It’s really uncertain. It’s really unpredictable. Decisions and choices will have to be made along our path and these will be ours to gain or to carry forever.

So to the college students right there, haven’t you been asking yourselves what will happen to you right after you graduate from college?