Six graduates-to-be talk about debt, work and their near- and long-term plans.
Six graduates-to-be talk about debt, work and their near- and long-term plans.
CHELSEA WARE
What’s your major?
I’m a double major in Art and Psychology, which I completed in four years with a great deal of planning. I’m an honors student and an Irwin Scholar [a designation awarded to UCSC’s most promising young artists]
What are you doing after graduating?
I’m going to move up to the Bay Area to join an African modern dance company that performs activist art pieces. I’ll be dancing part time, and I’m also looking for a job in activist art, teaching or art therapy.
Will you stay in Santa Cruz?
Just for a few weeks in the summer.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
As an artist, I have no set trajectory or career path. In a lot of ways, I felt more challenged by my art major than my psychology classes because the path isn’t laid out for you. I look to my future as a culture creator, and I don’t see large financial returns; what I get to look forward to is being a starving artist. I have a vision that could go any which way. In five years, I don’t know where I’ll be, but I’m sure that I’ll be somewhere I want to be because there are a lot of places I want to be.
Are you graduating with debt?
Yes. I took out a few loans to complete my degree—the art major is the second-most expensive degree to medical school.
TIFFANY LOFTIN
What’s your major?
American Studies with a minor in Politics. I’m also the Chair of Student Union Assembly.
What are you doing after graduating?
Applying for jobs. I’m planning on going to law school in two or three years. I don’t have a job lined up yet, but I’m applying for a position as field director at the NAACP in Los Angeles and also looking at jobs around California and on the East Coast.
Will you stay in Santa Cruz?
I’ll be here for the summertime, but I don’t plan on being here for long. I’ll probably move back to Los Angeles and move in with my mom while I figure out my next steps.
What are your plans for the future?
I know law school’s something I want to do because I don’t feel like I’m done with my education, and I want to learn more. I thought I knew what I wanted to do, that I wanted to be a judge or run for President, but I changed my mind, and I haven’t figured it all out yet.
What kind of debt are you graduating with?
Right now I’m $23,000 in debt.
KRISTOPHER RIGAS
What’s your major?
I’m a double major in Biochemistry and Business, which I have honors in. Completing the 280 units for degree took five years with three years of summer school.
What are you doing after graduating?
I’m on track to become a clinical pharmacist. I may attend USC’s School of Pharmacy in the fall, but I’m reconsidering whether a career as a pharmacist is worth sacrificing my whole twenties for a professional degree that sets me up for only one profession. What I really want is to start my own company. The world is changing, and the barriers to entrepreneurs have never been lower. I’m currently asking myself if I’m willing to give up the security of graduate school—or a job that pays me $25 an hour—to take risks that lead to real fulfillment.
Will you stay in Santa Cruz?
No. The Santa Cruz lifestyle is so anti-growth. It was cool in the beginning; it was something I’d never experienced, but now that I’ve experienced it, I’m ready to leave.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years I want to be running a company, providing solutions to problems. The company is the modern vehicle for change. It’s no longer about the individual, it’s about the group.
Are you graduating with debt?
No, my parents paid for everything. I’m free of debt, which is why I’m leery of signing up for graduate school and debt.
WILL CRAWFORD
What’s your major?
I’m a Computer Science major. I transferred here two years ago and will graduate in four years with one year of summer school.
What are you doing after graduating?
After I graduate, I’ll be employed full-time. I’m currently going through the interview process with startups like Affine Systems and larger companies as well, like Google and Riverbed Technologies.
Will you stay in Santa Cruz?
If I find a job in Santa Cruz or somewhere as far as Los Gatos, I may remain in Santa Cruz, but finding a technical job in Santa Cruz is extremely difficult.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
It depends entirely on how quickly I pay off my debt and where my best friends end up. Once my debt is paid off, my priority will be to live somewhere close to them. Finding a fair salary after that point is secondary.
Are you graduating with debt?
I’m graduating with somewhere between $40,000 and $60,000 in debt. The media has been babbling about how the job market is wonderful for graduating computer scientists right now—the strongest job market since the dot com boom—so I’m not particularly worried about being able to pay it off within a few years.
MICHAEL GENEAU
What’s your major?
Environmental Studies with departmental honors.
What are you doing after graduating?
I have a part-time job doing land restoration with the UC Natural Reserve System at the Younger Lagoon Ecological Reserve, which I love, and I’m planning on going full-time over the summer. Eventually want a consulting biologist job putting legislation in place to protect the environment.
Will you stay in Santa Cruz?
Part of me wants to, because I’ve built up a community here, but at the same time, I don’t want to stay here forever.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
The Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies is a useful degree, but I found it lacking in the hard sciences of biology, physics and chemistry, so I’ll be happy if in five years I’m getting a Master’s or Ph.D. in a hard science.
Are you graduating with debt?
No. My awesome parents have definitely looked out for me while I’ve been at UCSC. We agreed that if I did well in school, they’d pay for it. I’m grateful. I’ll pay them back someday.
ALLISON CHAPPLE
What’s your major?
Health Sciences, in the department of Molecular Cell and Development Biology.
What are you doing after graduating?
I have a part time job at Santa Cruz Biotechnology and I’ll stay there through the summer. After that, I’ll start applying for medical scribing jobs—where you get paid for shadowing physicians and doing the records—around California.
Will you stay in Santa Cruz?
Through the summer, yes, but after that most of my friends are leaving and it’s expensive to live here, so I probably won’t stay here for long. I don’t want to get stuck here.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I want to apply to medical school and eventually become a doctor. I also really want to travel, but I need to find money to travel first. I was looking into medical volunteering in Africa, but those programs cost a lot, and I’d have to work to save up the money to go and help other people. But it’s something that I really want to do if I have time.
Are you graduating with debt?
No, I’m not. I’m lucky enough that my parents helped me out, and I didn’t have to take out any loans. We have an agreement: as long as I toe the line, I get four years. After that, for medical school, it’s all me.
