There’s just three months and four days between me and graduation. Do I want to graduate? Not really. Never before has 93 days felt like such a short amount of time. The last thing I want to do right now is get some soul-crushing job that causes me to sit in a tall-walled cubicle all day worrying about some TPS report that has absolutely no impact on anyone’s life.
I’m young, my ideals aren’t yet completely jaded,and I still have that naïve desire to go out and help people. I ask: Is there a future for me?
Yes, there is! (I also answer, since this is a column and not a conversation.) Starting off with the obvious, there’s Teach for America. As I do with all things, I’ve waited until the one of the last possible days to apply, which is Feb. 19. I know that’s not terribly helpful to people who would have wanted to apply now only have three days, but there’s more opportunities.
If you’re interested in Teach for America, then you may also be interested in AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps.
Since we’re students and have loans, the AmeriCorps State and National program sounds best. It provides participants with a modest allowance and then an educational award of up to $5,350 upon completing their term of service.
The Peace Corps, on the other hand, under federal programs might allow volunteers to defer student loans during Peace Corps service or cancel out their student loans through years of service, but only if they have Perkins loans (sorry everyone else).
However, it’s very important to note due to the specific nature of these organizations, they might not be for you. Just because they are good résumé builders — or a nice way to put off grad school for a few years — doesn’t mean that anyone can do it. Sometimes these organizations require a personality that just isn’t you. Just ask Joshua Kaplowitz, a Yale grad who turned down working on Al Gore’s presidential campaign to do Teach for America and was sued for $20 million during his “tour of duty” (he was declared innocent and is now a lawyer in Philadelphia).
Do not fret! Idealist.org has a listing of more than 5,000 jobs that might be better fitted for you. You can search by state. For this state, the first 30 jobs range from teachers to directors of religious organizations to other non-profits. These jobs are no less honorable than the ones from the organizations listed above.
On the other hand, if you weren’t considering working for a nonprofit organization, maybe you should. Aside from the good you’ll be doing, there are typically laxer standards on dress code. You know what that means, right? Double nose piercing!
Shruti Rastogi is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at rastogi@umdbk.com.
