Leaving Behind a Sense of Youth...

"Wait, you're graduating next spring?" asks Peter Barry amongst the scuffle of the classroom. "I thought you'd be a lifer like me," he says with a smirk.

As fabulous as that may sound to some college lovin' students, it's just not the case. There comes that year when your advisor informs you that you have only three classes left until you graduate.

It's rather a bittersweet feeling for most. On the one hand, this signifies the end to dreadful exams, painful papers, and nagging professors. On the opposing side, it means taking another serious stride further into adulthood, and possibly leaving behind a huge chunk of your youth.

A student's college graduation day is an immense accomplishment. With degree in hand, one is now ready to fully jump into the career world and make a living for oneself. In the same breath, many graduates may hesitantly be glancing over their shoulders, wondering how much of their youth they are leaving behind.

Does this mean leaving behind nights of carefree drinking with the buddies? An end to late mornings, playing hooky on those warm, spring days? Saying good-bye to an ensemble of flip-flops, sweats, and a tie-dye T-shirt? After all, unless you're going to be working for a Grateful Dead cover band, I doubt this attire will be suitable for any career.

But some feel as though leaving behind college will not be such a stressful event. They are willingly and gratefully ready to jump into the so-called adult world.

"I'm ready to start a career already," says UML senior, Kasey Bingham. "I really want to start teaching and making a living for myself."

But finding a career during an economic recession may not be easy as some may think. Even with a Bachelor's or Master's Degree, experience is a key ingredient that companies look for when hiring new graduates. UML advisors suggest taking a trip to the Career Center to help set students on the right path. Participating in internships, career fairs, and extracurricular activities are all ways to accent a résumé.

Student, Peter Barry, discusses his reasons for staying in college.

“Students should really be thinking about internships while in school. Not only does it look good on résumés, but it gives you a chance to really get a feel for what you want to do—to see if you definitely like it or not,” says Priscilla March, a counselor at the UML career center.

Others who have tried to go out and work full-time before getting their degree feel as though they left school too early. Nicola Regan, a junior a UML is eagerly anticipating coming back to campus after taking a semester off.

"I can't wait to come back," says Regan. "I'm even taking summer courses to get myself back on the right track. Working full time can wait a little longer," she says with a smile.

At the crowded bars on a late Tuesday night...

But clearly not all students have lost their youthful tendencies after graduation day. Friends, who have graduated, moved on to careers such as elementary school teachers, newspaper reporters, or restaurant managers still know how to enjoy themselves.

Every weekend, teachers from Lowell High School roll through the restaurants and bars in downtown Lowell like clockwork. As they yell, laugh, and chug more beers, I can’t help but think to myself, “Those were my high school teachers? They have fun? Drink booze?” But even some of them, in their thirties or older, clearly know how to have a good time still.

“Old Court tonight?” reads the text from Angie Bergeron. A teacher at an elementary school in Lowell, she still finds her way out to the downtown bar scene every weekend to have a good time with her friends.

An upcoming UML graduate, Nick Brecken, does not feel as though he’ll be losing too much of his youthful lifestyle. With a career already ahead of him, he plans to not let that get in the way of playing with his band, taking hiking trips with friends, and enjoying a few parties here and there.

So perhaps there is nothing to fear about leaving college. After all, it's not really a death sentence to enter the "real world," as many 30 plus adults like to proclaim to twenty something year old college students.

"Live it up now," says a regular customer at Cobblestones as I clear the empty drinks off his table. "After college, it's the real world. All work. So don't go overexerting yourself while you're still so young."

In actuality, that doesn't quite seem to be the case. Ultimately, it's about knowing how to provide that balance of work and play. Graduating college is not a death sentence. It's up to you to make a life for yourself.

Choosing not to become a workaholic or get sucked into a job you loathe will ultimately lead you down a happy path. Knowing how to hold onto that sense of childhood and youth is ultimately the best way to live. You don't need to cling onto your college career and youth to enjoy life.

Enjoying the live music on campus at UML

Moral of the story? Don't forget to live a little. We may be leaving behind inspiring professors, favorite hang outs, and loud, free campus concerts but we'll always have that sense of youth in us. Continue to take chances and experience life as you did as a 21 year old. Only difference is, the older you get, the less likely you'll make the idiotic decisions that could land you in prison.

In the words of Oscar Wilde, "The one advantage of playing with fire is that no one ever gets singed. It is the people who don't know how to play with it that get burned up."

Nick Brecken discusses the pros and cons of leaving college.