Senioritis is real. It lies dormant in the cells of all lowerclassmen waiting for the most important year of college until it fills seniors with lethargy, procrastination and an extreme case of nonchalance. While many presume the only cure to senioritis is a cap and gown, others understand that the only true way to cure senioritis is to be successful. Here are four tips to help motivate seniors to make a smooth transition from being a college student suffering from senioritis to a career-driven adult benefiting from success.
Letters of Recommendation
What many fail to realize is that letters of recommendation are actually the true Holy Grail of documents. These letters serve as personal testaments to your work ethic from former professors, coaches and employers. Letters of recommendation are a chance for companies to get a glimpse of their potential employee’s academic achievement and personality from the perspective of a respected professional. It’s rare to find a company that doesn’t request letters of recommendation before the initial interview process, so it’s important to have at least two or three readily available. These letters have endless uses; whether they’re for scholarships, internships, graduate programs or jobs, letters of recommendations play a heavy role in success.
Internships
While letters of recommendations may help land you the internship, internships help land the job. Internships are imperative during senior year; they provide real-life experience of the demanding responsibilities of your future career. Learning the ins and outs of the industry allows college students to apply the skills they’ve acquired in school. Work ethic, motivation and responsibility all come into play when you’re forced to do grueling ― yet valuable ― work, sometimes, for free, which is why it’s important to give the career of your choice a test drive before committing. Internships can either confirm or change your career of choice. Also, it’s a wonderful chance to work with what could be future co-workers. It’s not rare that seniors are offered career opportunities upon the completion of their internship.
Connections
Making connections is almost the most important key to succeeding post-graduation. As the saying goes, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Meeting the right people at the right time can open endless doors of career opportunities. Keeping in contact with former advisers, guidance counselors and professors not only benefits relationships but can also benefit careers. Also, making connections is much easier today than it was in the past, thanks to popular social media sites, such as LinkedIn, a professional network that connects individuals with various companies, organizations and groups. Regardless of how the connection is made, the key point is how it’s utilized.
You
The main factor in beating senioritis and turning it into success is you. College is an experience of its own, but the attributes learned are pivotal in real-life success. Motivation to pass classes, discipline in studying, consistency in academic habits and independence are all things students learn throughout college. Though having all the above mentioned tips may help in success, they are learned in vain if the individual is incapable of using their independence to consistently discipline themselves to become motivated. There are no special dinners for making good grades in real life, there isn’t a hierarchy of organizations, and there certainly aren’t any breaks of relaxation. Hard work most often goes unnoticed because it’s expected. But that is the true mark of success: when the desire to succeed trumps reward-driven behavior.
Walking across the stage as your friends and family proudly applaud and cheer is a mark of success in itself. But the coming years after this monumental event is where the true demonstration and application of what you’ve learned, earned and gained as a successful college student occurs.
