How I'm Preparing for Graduation

Let’s be real, graduating from your undergrad can be scary. After four years of getting to know some incredible people, making connections for the future, falling in love with a new city and learning more than I could imagine, I have to step out of my comfort zone and into the next chapter. While I don’t finish my university experience for another month, there are plenty of loose ends I have to wrap up and post-grad plans that need attending to! Instead of focusing on the scary, I’ll focus on how to make the most of my last month and plan some fun things before starting my career.

Many of the university’s programs have an honours designation. My program, Professional Communication, is one of them. This means that I need to complete a summative research project. Many programs might call this a thesis, but ours is a little more creative and a lot less lengthy. The full-year capstone research course (CMN480/CMN490) allows us to choose any topic we’d like related to the field of communication, create a study and analyze results. We also have to create a website that encapsulates our research. My study revolves around food and social media. I’m trying to see if there is a link between social media content that involves food and the viewer’s food consumption habits. Are their grocery bills higher if they watch content from certain influencers? Do they recreate recipes because they sound good or because they’re trendy? I’ll see if I can figure it out!

The Professional Communication program also puts on an end-of-year showcase for all of our research projects called Signify. I’m helping out the Industry team, meaning I’m reaching out to potential industry leaders that would like to hear about and critique our projects. It’s a great way to make a couple more connections before I graduate.

For all of third year and the fall semester of fourth year, I was so sure that as soon as I graduated, I would start working. I had already done some traveling before COVID hit and I felt pressure to have a salary as I’m graduating at 24. However, every single friend, family member, colleague and professor has told me not to. The common consensus is, “You’ll be working and making money for the rest of your life, take some time to relax.” So, I listened. My final assignments are due on April 22, so I booked a flight to Los Angeles on April 23. I managed to convince my mom to go on a week-long mother-daughter trip to somewhere I’ve never been before. It’s very exciting as this is one of my first times away from Canada since the beginning of the pandemic. It’s definitely something to look forward to. 

During the month of May, I’m planning to go back and forth between Toronto and Montreal quite a lot. I have a few family events in Montreal (including my brother’s wedding!) and would love to spend the month with my family. I have officially decided to stay in Toronto for good post-grad (more on that below), so it was important that I took some time in my hometown before starting my career. 

Lastly, my boyfriend and I decided to take a big trip at the beginning of June. We’re going to Spain, Morocco and Portugal! I’ve been wanting to do a trip like this for years, and the timing worked out nicely enough that we can go together. We’re both huge foodies and have spent most of our planning time finding interesting restaurants. A mistake? Maybe. But, we’ll figure everything else out soon enough.

As I mentioned earlier, I plan on staying in Toronto after graduation. As someone who grew up in Montreal, this was definitely not my parents’ favourite news, but I know it’s the right one for me. Over the course of my four years at the university, I have truly fallen in love with the city of Toronto. I look forward to going on coffee walks every day, exploring all the different neighbourhoods and especially picnics in the park in the summer. I met my partner here during my second year and have made the most amazing friends in this city. I also want to work in media, so it helps that there are a lot of career opportunities for me in Toronto.

Finally, I have to start thinking about my career. When you are suddenly so close to graduating, everyone asks you where you want to work or what you want to do. It’s such a difficult question to answer, but I am trying to approach it with a level head. I truly think the best way to approach an entry-level job is to consider it just that. I know my strengths and skills and that they can be applied in so many different ways. Sure, I’d love to work in media, maybe in food, maybe in film and TV. But, if that doesn’t work out right away, then that is more than ok! I’m young and of a generation that knows that we can jump from job to job if there is something that we want to change. I’m lucky that I have a support system that agrees with me and can give me tips on how to succeed with this approach. There are obviously some companies that I would love to be a part of, but there also might be some that I don’t even know exist and I can work really well in. As long as I like the people I work with and find value in what I do every day, that’s what will make me happy. Oh, and work/life balance. That is a must!

While graduating can be a really stressful time, I am trying my best to make the most of it and have some great experiences before moving forward to the next chapter of my life. I am so thankful that I chose this university because over the course of my four years here I have grown into a truly different person in all the best ways. I’ve learned so much from my courses, student life experiences, and friends that I’ve met along the way and am honestly excited to see what comes next.