The time has come. For years parents, teachers, aunts and neighbors have posed the same question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” This May, GW’s “grown-up” seniors are finally going to have to answer them.
The days of responses like firefighter, football player and ballerina have passed, but hardly any childhood dreams are of investment banking, computer consulting or research analyzing. But according to many seniors, these are the types of occupations they foresee holding after graduation. The dream jobs of the past are neither gone nor forgotten, but most seniors have found different careers that are more practical and, more importantly, attainable.
Frank Cerullo, a senior majoring in information systems, said his dream job is to be president of the United States but he said he hopes to work for a computer consulting firm after graduation.
Keeping him from his commander-in-chief position is “about 65 million votes,” Cerullo said.
Cerullo said he is not too upset about settling for a consulting job instead of leader of the free world.
“I have an interest in computers and the pay is not too bad,” he said.
Adam Weinstein, a senior majoring in history also decided to give up his dream job for practical purposes. Weinstein said his ideal position would be coaching high school sports, especially football or wrestling. After graduation, however, he plans to work on Wall Street as a financial analyst or in investment banking and has already received a job offer.
“To coach sports you have to teach where the pay is pretty lousy, about three times less than I would make on Wall Street,” Weinstein said.
Weinstein also said that a coaching job would require him to live in the suburbs or rural area while he would prefer living in a city.
International affairs major Michael Kanaley sent his resum? to the Defense Intelligence Agency hoping to become a research analyst. While Kanaley said he loves international affairs, he has given up his dream of becoming a journalist for a magazine like Esquire or GQ.
Kanaley said he would like to interview famous people but has given up his career dreams in journalism because he said he lacks some of the writing skills needed for Pulitzer-winning articles.
Other seniors are on their way to making their ideal professions realities.
Sera Janson, an environmental studies major, said her dream job is to be a superintendent at the Grand Canyon National Park.
“As a superintendent I would be able to utilize my ability to understand the land from an internal perspective as well as politically and economically,” Janson said.
After graduation Janson said she will work as a raft guide at the Grand Canyon, where she has worked before. She said the job could help her along the way to her dream job by providing good background experience.
As a psychology major with a minor in communications, senior Bobby Lattis said he believes he is preparing himself well for his future work in a financial consulting firm, which is also his dream job. Though his major and minor are not directly related to his future career, Lattis said they will help with “the human resources aspect of it.”
“People do not go to college to learn what you’re going to use in a career, you learn that in graduate school or in on-site training,” he said. “In college the best things to learn are how to improve your thinking.”
Lattis said he began researching consulting firms but has not sent out any resum?s yet.
While a future in a work-a-day world looms ahead of them, most seniors said they are excited about their first jobs as college graduates – even if they are not going to be what they always dreamed they would be.
