And then, what?

We humans are very different from each other, yet many times our hopes and goals converge. This might happen because we receive similar stimuli or lessons from our social environment, but also because the interaction that we have with each other is a necessary criterion for survival. Of course, our goals mainly stem from our desires which change according to our age and the circumstances that surround us. When we were young, our goals took the form of daydreams, while as we grew older they started to become more specific and contained.

One goal that most of us have shared, or are still sharing, is the desire to get into a public or private university. Obviously, some young people get directly involved with employment, a commendable choice definitely, but in this article, we’ll focus on the paths academic studies mainly create. Our society, therefore, from a young age, teaches us the importance of obtaining a degree which will validate our knowledge of a subject and will later help us find a stable job. With the completion of our 18 years of age, meaning the start of our adulthood, comes the first, but not the last, big choice that we have to make which will determine, directly or indirectly, our future life.

However, true adulthood usually comes after college graduation, the period when we are called to support ourselves and take on the responsibilities of an adult. In this period of our lives, there’s no guidance provided, leading us to the right way. The choices are endless, and although many people will be there to advise us, the final decisions will be entirely ours. But what are these options and how do we know which one is the most suitable?

The first and most common option is to find a job that will relate to the subject of study or the practice that we’ll have done before receiving the degree. A very reasonable and theoretically effective decision, which, however, hides its difficulties due to the situation prevailing in the labor market both in Greece and other foreign countries. The second choice, also quite common but more complicated in terms of financial convenience, is to continue the studies to obtain a master’s degree, and then perhaps a doctorate, which will focus on specializing in one area of the subject of the undergraduate studies. In this case, if the research that the student will do is sufficient, the new ground that will be broken is infinite, because new research objects that combine knowledge from more than one basic field are constantly created. Of course, this option also includes staying in the country of study or seeking education in another.

It’s obvious that the above options raise the question of staying in the country of origin or the desire to continue studies or find a job in another country or possibly another continent. A huge percentage of Greeks have already gone abroad, while many more are thinking of following the same path. This choice, in most cases, was made due to financial needs, and although it’s not ideal, we must acknowledge its existence. Surely, there are young people who, regardless of their financial situation, want to go abroad because the object of their interest is more widespread there, and therefore there are more opportunities for research and work.

And finally, we come to the less common but equally realistic choices. One of them is the complete change of studies and then transfer to another field. The logic behind this is quite clear because when we’re called to choose what we want to study, we’re still very young and we may not know what will gain our interest and curiosity. In the end, we may choose something but with the maturity that accompanies adulthood we’re able to reconsider and move with courage in the direction that fulfills us the most. The same applies if we’re looking to get a second degree, similar to the previous one, to expand our knowledge, or even if we choose a job after graduating, that doesn’t have much in common with our degree. The choices, of course, don’t stop there but a single article is not enough to analyze them all. Therefore, as long as there is desire and creativity, the paths and their branches will constantly increase.

As for the question of which option is more suitable for us, I don’t think there’s a specific answer. Moving on in life, we will make mistakes, change decisions, and constantly look for things that meet our needs at that particular moment. And in the end, it does not matter if the path we’ll take is easy or difficult, since each of us measures their strengths differently. What matters is the journey to be worth the effort.

Photography by Evelina Papadopoulou

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