With diplomas from Texas A&M in hand, many undergraduate students have begun to anticipate leaving the college atmosphere and preparing for entry-level positions in their respective careers.
One of the 5,062 students graduating this weekend, communication senior Angela Witzkoske is the first person in her family to obtain a college degree. Witzkoske said her family members are excited to see her walk the stage on Friday.
“They’ve been really supportive, really proud, and I think that’s what I’m most proud of — that I’ve made my family proud,” Witzkoske said. “I really hadn’t thought about it like that until now. It’s really awesome. I’m really, really excited.”
An estimated 4,810 students from the university’s main campus will be graduating this weekend over the course of four ceremonies out of 5,062 students graduating within the university system, at time of press.
The first ceremony for graduate and undergraduate students will be held on Friday Dec. 15, at Reed Arena at 9 a.m. for the Department of Engineering. An estimated 1,222 students will be awarded at the largest ceremony of the semester.
The Bush School of Government, agriculture and life sciences, geosciences, medicine, nursing, public health and science will hold its ceremony on Friday at 2 p.m. An estimated 1,209 students will be awarded during this ceremony.
The ceremony for architecture, liberal arts and veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday. An estimated 1,185 students will be awarded during this ceremony.
The final ceremony will be Saturday Dec. 16, at Reed Arena at 9 a.m. for the College of Education and Human Development and Mays Business School. An estimated group of 1,191 students will be awarded during this ceremony.
Senior finance major Grant Phillips has a full-time position working for an energy company in Houston. He said although he will be going back home, the change of pace of working in a full-time job is an unknown and exciting chapter of his life.
“It’s coming quick,” Phillips said. “It’s surreal because I’ve never done what I’m about to do. With that being said, I’m more excited than nervous, because I know that my responsibilities are going to have to be shown in different ways. I’m up for the task, and I’m just really pumped for what is in store.”
Phillips said he will have to adjust to not being surrounded by Aggies, especially in a blend of people at his new job.
“I’m not going to have that similarity with everyone,” Phillips said. “Sure, there might be people in the workplace that are Aggies and stuff, we can connect with that obviously, but I’m not surrounded by everyone being a part of the Aggie family.”
Jonathan Miller, communication senior, is returning to his previous job back in his hometown of San Antonio. He said he has had trouble deciding what he wants to do in the broad communications field.
Miller described the cycle of searching for an entry-level position as frustrating in that employers are looking for students with experience, but without any opportunities given at an entry level, they can’t have the required experience.
“A lot of places say you need to have a degree, and so that kind of is annoying, because a degree is what is required, but they don’t look at it in terms of getting you the job,” Miller said. “That’s a catch-22 for us students. We just don’t have the experience.”
Miller said he is optimistic about his future as a graduate, but he will miss the friendships he made at A&M.
“I can pursue whatever I want to do,” Miller said. “That is pretty cool to me. It’s just like stepping into a world and leaving all these great people and organizations that I have a big part in behind is kind of sad, but when I think about crossing the stage, I do feel excited.”