In just a matter of days, many seniors will be making the big jump from college life to the “real world.”

For many, this transition is not so easy. Leaving college can sometimes bring a lot of stress. Sandy Cox, assistant director of the Counseling Center, said that these feelings of anxiety are perfectly normal.

Cox said the Counseling Center sees a lot of seniors this time of year, and it is because they experience a sense of general anxiety and they are not sure of the source. “They feel excited, but scared,” Cox said.

Most times students have a hard time acknowledging their fears, but the maturity that comes with making it to senior status, gives students the strength to get assistance. “It takes a lot of strength to walk up this porch,” Cox said.

Any type of big change brings about stress, Cox said. College students always talk about their goals and dreams, but graduating seniors are now at a point in their lives where they have to start making those dreams and goals reality.

Leaving college brings both feelings of happiness and grief, Cox said. Students feel a sense of grief because the close relationships they have developed while at college are coming to an end. Cox said many times no matter how much students try to keep those friendships alive, most of the time the closeness ends with graduation.

It’s kind of a tornado feeling,” Cox said. “You’re proud, but sad and scared of what’s going to happen.”

Cox said when seniors visit the Counseling Center asking for help, the counselors try to normalize what they’re going through. “This is the ending of a certain life stage, a stage of school and structure,” Cox said. If seniors talk to each other about their feelings, then they will probably see the feelings they’re dealing with mirrored in their peers, she said.

The Counseling Center tries to encourage seniors to deal with the closure and express their feelings, whether it be to counselors at the Counseling Center or friends. Cox said seniors also need to address their anxieties, such as the fear of failure. After figuring out what the source of their anxiety is, then seniors need to look at their personal growth they’ve experienced while in college. “Look at what your strengths are,” Cox said, however, she admits that is not easy to do.

The Counseling Center also offers help by advocating basic maintenance things to seniors, like getting in contact with Career Services and graduate school advisers, Cox said.

Seniors like Linda Glomlowski, a graduating finance major, said that she was excited about moving on, but she was nervous because she didn’t know if she was ready for the “real world.”

“(Eastern) was a good learning experience to make me ready for the future,” Glomlowski said. “(Eastern) has prepared me on a social and academic level, but until I experience the `real world’ for myself, I won’t know just how prepared I really am.”

Glomlowski said she has no regrets from her time spent at Eastern and she is most appreciative of her time spent with her involvement with friends in sorority and the Greek community.

Lisa Yoshino, a graduating history major, said Eastern, as a whole, was a good experience and she was thankful for all the activities she was involved in. “I don’t have any regrets, but maybe I should have worked harder my freshman and sophomore year,” Yoshino said.

Her most memorable experiences she said will stay with her from her four years at Eastern are the friends she has made while living in the dorms. “I’ll definitely keep in touch with those friends,” she said.

Like Glomlowski, Yoshino said she is nervous about leaving college. “The closer it gets the more real it becomes, but Eastern has prepared me well,” she said.

Joseph Spallina, a graduating marketing major, feels a little differently about leaving Eastern. “I can’t wait!” Spallina said. “I loved (Eastern). I met all my best friends here,” he said. “The education was great and the professors were great. It was the (most fun) five years of my life.”

Spallina said he planned to try to keep in touch with the friends he met at Eastern a long time after his graduation. As far as making the switch to the “real world,” he said he can’t wait. A job at a sales firm in Chicago is awaiting his arrival. “I want to make some money!” he said.

Steve Rich, director of alumni services, said these graduates are among many graduates who have been satisfied with the education they received at Eastern and successful in their field of study.

In a recent study done by Planning and Institutional Studies and Academic Affairs, the majority of alumni had positive attitudes toward Eastern.

Beginning in 1991, 1,173 Eastern alumna were questioned

one year after graduation. At five years after graduation, 931 alumni were questioned, and at nine years after graduation, 796 alumni were questioned. By doing the study this way, the offices could monitor the alumni’s progress from 1991 to 2000, Rich said.

When asked what about their present attitudes toward Eastern, 95 percent of those one year out said they had positive attitudes 97 percent of those five years out and nine years out said they also had positive attitudes toward Eastern, Rich said

When asked about their present attitude towards their bachelor’s degree in their field of study, 87 percent of those one year out said they had a positive attitude towards their degrees, 90 percent of those five years out had a positive attitude and 93 percent of those nine years out had a positive attitude, Rich said.

The next question on the survey was how well alumna felt their degree prepared them for their chosen career path. One year out, 89 percent said they felt good about their degree, 88 percent of those five years out said they felt good and 91 percent of those nine years out said they felt good about their degree, Rich said.

When asked if alumna were satisfied with their current job, of those one year out, 81 percent were satisfied. Of those five years out, 94 percent were satisfied and of those nine years out, 95 percent were satisfied, Rich said.

In March 2001, the United States unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, Rich said. Of those Eastern alumna one year out, 10 percent were currently unemployed but looking for employment. Of those five years out, three percent were unemployed, and of those nine years out, only one percent were unemployed but looking for employment, which is below the overall national average, Rich said.

“I think Eastern has an excellent reputation,” Rich said. Companies continue to hire Eastern graduates, Rich said. “When alumni do well, that reflects well on their fellow alumni,” he said.