{"id":7918,"date":"2018-06-06T17:26:01","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T01:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=7918"},"modified":"2018-06-06T17:26:01","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T01:26:01","slug":"following-your-own-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/following-your-own-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Following your own path"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sam Dunaway | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that graduation is right around the corner, everyone that I come into contact with asks the same exact thing \u2014 what\u2019s next? And while I used to dread this question, I am starting to come to terms with the fact that there is no right answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a biology major, it sometimes feels as though not striving for a master\u2019s or doctorate degree is a huge mistake. I have a handful of friends leaving soon after graduation and continuing their education, and it often seems like finishing my educational career with an undergraduate degree is the wrong choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a few people in my life that urge me to stay in Oregon and focus on what\u2019s familiar \u2014 notably the place I grew up. And although I know many graduates that feel most comfortable when they\u2019re back where they came from, I\u2019ve always known that I\u2019m not one of those people. <\/span><\/p>\n

While some of my friends are walking off of the commencement stage with a full-time position with a decent salary plus benefits, I know that this won\u2019t be me either. Internships, seasonal jobs and minimum wage are in my future for the next few years, and I try to remind myself that this doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019m a failure.<\/span><\/p>\n

It means that everyone\u2019s path is different. While it\u2019s easy to look around you at commencement and compare yourself to every other graduate, everyone has their own unique path that\u2019s right for them. No, I\u2019m not going to be getting a doctorate anytime soon, I\u2019m not going to have a stable income for a while and I\u2019m not going to land my dream job right away, but that\u2019s okay, because the road that I\u2019m going down is the right one for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, the next time you\u2019re stressed about the right answer to the question \u2018what\u2019s next?\u2019, stop and remember \u2014 you earned a degree. And the road beyond that degree is distinctly, wonderfully, unmistakably your own.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contact the author at sedunaway13@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo by: Paul F. Davis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sam Dunaway | News Editor Now that graduation is right around the corner, everyone that I come into contact with asks the same exact thing \u2014 what\u2019s next? And while I used to dread this question, I am starting to come to terms with the fact that there is no right answer. As a biology […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1030,"featured_media":7720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}