Graduation marks the beginning of adulthood and, while some don't mind looking for a job, paying bills and settling into their chosen lifestyle, others choose less traditional paths.
Several out-going seniors have found those paths.
Josh Doane, a senior music technology major, will graduate in May but will postpone his transition and return to Ball State University to complete a Master of Business Administration. Doane said he wanted to continue his education to become more marketable to future employers.
Doane said he is interviewing for graduate assistantships in order to gain more experience in the business world.
"In addition to tuition aid, the relationships built during the assistantship will allow me to open the door to future opportunities," he said.
To prepare for graduate school Doane will spend the summer working and studying.
"This summer is my last of free room and board," Doane said. "I need to find a decent job and get as much experience as possible. If the job market was hot, then I would probably not pursue an MBA."
An extra year of college is an option becoming more popular with the current generation. A few years ago spending more than four years in undergraduate work was almost unheard of. Today, the average student takes nearly four and a half years to complete a college degree, according the National Center for Educational Statistics.
Tucker Day's real world won't begin until next summer. The senior music education major said he would spend another semester at Ball State and would student teach at a local high school in the Spring of 2010 because of the economic situation. He said he wanted to gain more experience in his field and plans to teach high school music classes for a few years before teaching in college.
"The economy is making me take more classes to make myself more marketable and secure a job," Day said.
Day will take classes during the summer as well. He will also work at Norwell High School in Fort Wayne teaching the marching band.
Actuarial science major Doug Miller said he is approaching graduation differently than most. Miller plans to spend the summer interning for Lincoln Financial Group. He said it will give him the chance to decide if that's the work he wants to do.
He said finding a job after his internship would probably be hard, but the need for actuaries wouldn't go away.
"With the way the economy is right now, graduating seniors that are looking for employment should probably try to take whatever job is offered to them, as there are not a lot of companies hiring right now," Miller said.
Furthering education or getting an internship are options many graduating seniors turn to, but they aren't the only alternatives to finding a job.
Lauren Grogan, a secondary education major, said she is interested in mission and service work and money is not a large factor in her decisions for the future.
Grogan said she hopes to volunteer with Invisible Children after graduation. The organization works to raise awareness and rescue abducted children forced to be soldiers for a rebel army in Uganda.
"I think too often we are trained and told there is a single path - graduate high school, go to college, graduate college, and get a well-paying job," she said. "What I want more people to consider is mission work - overseas or even right here in our nation."
If she had another major, Grogan said she would consider riding out the economic woes by going to graduate school. As a secondary education major, Grogan said she feels she would be overqualified for work if she continued her education.
"There is more out there than a job right after college, and our generation is being forced to see that," Grogan said.
Graduates can choose to serve in many organizations. Senior social work major Aly Pysh will work with Campus Crusade for Christ at Purdue University this summer. She said she hoped to work as an intern for about two years before getting a job.
She said her excitement of life after college is greater than her fear.
"I'm pretty much over school at this point," Pysh said. "...I'm ready to see what the future brings."
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