The Greyhound Editorial: Life After Loyola program a help to seniors entering tough economy
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Opinion
With the nation's unemployment figure hitting 10.2 percent last week - the highest it has been since 1983 - and the question of what to do post graduation looming over college seniors' heads, The Greyhound congratulates Loyola on developing a new program aimed at preparing seniors for entrance into the job market and a life of "real world" responsibilities.
Life After Loyola will guarantee seniors a head start confronting certain realities of professional working life that are easy to avoid and ignore during four years of undergraduate education. Discussion tracks dealing with how to balance a checkbook, how to shop for car insurance and how to transition to living in a new city will prove invaluable to any seniors still anxious or unsure about the finer intricacies of managing a budget or shopping around for the best deals on various products and services, deceptively simple points that tend to be taken for granted while at college.
In addition to these seminars on practical skills, participating seniors will also benefit from sessions focused on networking and business etiquette. Interviewing, workplace etiquette, job searching, and techniques on how to negotiate a salary and ask for a raise are all topics proposed for discussion at the January 2010 Life After Loyola program.
Certainly the foundation of a Loyola education is its deep-rooted liberal arts tradition intertwined with the Jesuit values of discernment and care of the whole person; indeed, it is precisely this aspect of a Loyola education that makes Loyola students well-rounded and analytical and thoughtful thinkers. But surely the practical value of a college degree, and the experiences and opportunities that a college education offers, cannot be ignored. Providing a program to seniors that pays special attention to the practical challenges of life after college can only improve graduating seniors' chances of success.
Life After Loyola will guarantee seniors a head start confronting certain realities of professional working life that are easy to avoid and ignore during four years of undergraduate education. Discussion tracks dealing with how to balance a checkbook, how to shop for car insurance and how to transition to living in a new city will prove invaluable to any seniors still anxious or unsure about the finer intricacies of managing a budget or shopping around for the best deals on various products and services, deceptively simple points that tend to be taken for granted while at college.
In addition to these seminars on practical skills, participating seniors will also benefit from sessions focused on networking and business etiquette. Interviewing, workplace etiquette, job searching, and techniques on how to negotiate a salary and ask for a raise are all topics proposed for discussion at the January 2010 Life After Loyola program.
Certainly the foundation of a Loyola education is its deep-rooted liberal arts tradition intertwined with the Jesuit values of discernment and care of the whole person; indeed, it is precisely this aspect of a Loyola education that makes Loyola students well-rounded and analytical and thoughtful thinkers. But surely the practical value of a college degree, and the experiences and opportunities that a college education offers, cannot be ignored. Providing a program to seniors that pays special attention to the practical challenges of life after college can only improve graduating seniors' chances of success.
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