Ask anyone why they’re going to college and the answer will most likely be some variation of “to get a job.”
This drive for future career prospects looks different for each student. These Aggies explained the future they hope to build by earning their degrees.
Continuing education is a priority to Sydney Adams, communication senior, who was recently admitted to graduate school for her masters in business at Texas A&M.
“I have a lot of dreams and aspirations, and I know in order to do that I have to get a degree to get in my foot in the door and also utilize the skills I learn in a career that I want to strive in,” Adams said. “It’s one of those things, I always look to keep striving and keep going to make myself stronger as time goes on.”
According to Texas A&M’s data and research services (DARS), A&M’s freshman retention for 2016 was 91.7 percent. The most recently data available from DARS shows the 4-year graduation rate at 53.9 percent, 5-year graduation rate at 78.5 percent and 6-year graduation rate at 81.9 percent.
Andrew Landwermeyer, aerospace engineering senior, said he believes a college degree helps people live a successful life.
“I think this day and age it’s really important if you want to continue on and succeed in life with schooling,” Landwermeyer said. “It’s one of those things where you think about it, for what my parents provided and given its me, its truly important about paying it forward.”
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2015, 67.8 percent of highschool graduates between the ages of 25 and 64 are employed. This number jumps to 82.8 percent for college graduates in the same age range. The unemployment rates follow with 5.6 percent for high school graduates and 2.5 percent for college graduates.
Jennifer Ramos, psychology junior, said she hopes to use her degree to help people.
“I hope one day I can utilize the tools necessary to become a sports psychologist,” Ramos said. “One of the things that drives and inspires me is helping others, and having that in a career where I can go into work every day with a smile on my face while making a difference means so much.”
According to the Texas A&M Career Center website, over 54 percent of college graduates have a job offer waiting for them, while 23 percent look to take their education higher.
For Adams, who said college was always an expectation in her family, the college experience has been an opportunity for meaningful experiences inside and outside the classroom.
“My parents were the ones to push me, without a doubt, to get me where I’m going,” Adams said. “My dad went to college after serving in the Army, my mom went to school in Germany. My stepmom didn’t finish college, so I really think she’s been the motivator for me to really experience the things for myself that she didn’t get to.”
Landwermeyer said thinking about what he could accomplish with his education in the future is part of what drives him to continue working hard at A&M.
“One of my dreams, or that quintessential moment I think about daily, is to fly or travel in a vehicle that I helped design and look out the window into that sky,” Landwermeyer said. “That’s when I’ll know I’ve made it.”