For a lot of college students, getting a job after graduation that utilizes your degree is the dream. It means you worked hard in college, and all your hard work is paying off in the form of a job, which means money. YAY. But it’s not necessarily the end all be all. There are other options. Such as traveling. And I would like to talk to you about why traveling after college could be the best option for you.
1. Traveling after graduation or working in another country will make you a better candidate for the grad school you apply to or the job you apply for later in the U.S. Hands down. Why you ask? Because you’ve gained life skills that your peers won’t get working in the U.S. or in college. I know that sounds like a bunch of B.S. It’s one of those things people always say that sounds so vague it has to just be how they justify their travels. But you really will gain skills. You’ll be able to walk into grad school interviews with interesting, memorable stories that will blow all the college seniors’ stories of university classes out of the water. You’ll show grad schools that you’re not just goal-oriented; you value experiences. And that’s very important to grad schools, especially since more and more people are just getting master’s degrees for the name, not the learning experience.
2. Some of you will call me corny and naïve for saying this, but working abroad for a year or visiting seven countries in six months could change your life for the better. You could meet your future spouse or make friends that change your life.
3. Most challenges and difficult times you’ll face after working in another country won’t compare, so you’ll be able to handle just about anything. One of my friends spent a year working in Bolivia as an English translator, and she says that pretty much anything that happens to her doesn’t fluster her because she remembers the time she had to find her way home late at night when she got off at the wrong bus stop.
4. You’ll have a chance to change the world and make an impact in a way that you never could in the U.S. Recently, I sat next to a man on an airplane whose daughter is in the Peace Corps. One of the coolest things that has happened to her while there is that a woman named her baby after her. She made such an impact on that family’s life that they named their child after her.
This might not be the best option for you, but no matter where you are in the process of figuring out post-grad life, I encourage you to consider traveling and working abroad in your plans. I can’t even come close to telling you all the benefits of it because those differ person to person, but I truly believe it will impact your life positively.
