It’s graduation season. This time brings with it a familiar mixture of excitement, anxiety and reflection. What nobody tells you is that graduation isn’t just a ceremony; it’s the start of something brand new, and nobody has it completely figured out. For Eastern University seniors, the end of their undergraduate journey raises a set of questions that no syllabus fully prepares them for: Where will they live? How will they pay for it? Do they feel ready? After speaking with four seniors from different undergraduate disciplines, spanning from data science, psychology and ministry leadership, they were able to speak about their understanding of these uncertainties and their plans to navigate them.
Unlike most of his peers, Ephriam Luba is walking into graduation with a plan that others are still trying to figure out. He has already secured a resident teaching job where he will bring his background in data science into the classroom to teach middle school math. This combination might surprise some people, but for Luba it makes sense. It’s a path that reflects both his academic training and his willingness to go wherever the opportunity led him. For many data science graduates, the obvious route points toward tech companies or corporate analytics roles.
Luba looked at the landscape differently, found an opening in education, went for it and it paid off.
Getting to where he is took faith and lots of applications. “I secured this position by trusting in the Lord’s plan and applying to countless companies both in and outside my major,” he said. He’s also feeling steady on the financial side, confident that his new role will help him handle the costs that come with life after college. His message to freshmen and other students is simple but worth hearing: “College goes by faster than you think. Apply yourself, learn and prepare for the future because the market is tough right now and you want to be ready once you get your diploma.”
Samantha Swarr has a clear sense of why she does what she does. She chose psychology because of a deep fascination with human behavior and a specific desire to work in forensic and clinical settings. She sees a significant gap in care for individuals with severe mental illness, particularly within the criminal justice system, which drove her focus and desire to be part of closing it. “This field allows me to explore not only individual functioning but also how psychological factors intersect with systems such as law, policy and healthcare,” she said.
For Swarr, psychology was never just an academic interest. It’s a calling rooted in the belief that people, no matter their circumstances, deserve better care and greater understanding.
Unlike Luba, Swarr doesn’t have a job lined up for her, but she’s thought carefully about why and what to do about it. With a bachelor’s degree limiting direct entry into psychology roles, she’s focusing on writing and academic support work to stay afloat financially while pursuing graduate school. She’s also made a careful decision about her degree path, opting for a fully funded Ph.D. over a costly Psy.D., a choice shaped as much by financial reality as by long-term goals. It’s the kind of strategic thinking that reflects how seriously she’s taking not just her career, but her future stability. For her, housing and finances feel uncertain for now. But what weighs on her mostly now is the emotional reality and transition, leaving behind the stability, routine, and community she’s built at Eastern. “Having an experience that is difficult to walk away from is a privilege in itself,” she said. To first-years, she says, don’t wait to plug in: “You will come to value a sense of community and support more than you expect.”
When asked why Micah Chapman chose to major in ministry leadership, he responded that choosing ministry leadership wasn’t a career decision but a response to something deeper. His love for serving Christ and a sense of calling toward pastoral work led him here, and while his path looks different from most of his classmates, Chapman doesn’t see it that way. For him, ministry isn’t a niche career track. It belongs to everyone. “This does not mean that people who are not in vocational ministry are not doing and have a love for God-ordained ministry that is building up the kingdom of God just as much, if not more than a pastor,” he said. “Ministry is simply the life witness of the lifestyle of worship to Christ we live into,” he said, a reminder that faithful living isn’t reserved for those with a pulpit. That same warmth comes through in his advice to freshmen. He’s not here to lecture about GPAs. “College is not about getting an A in class, but more importantly, getting an A in life,” he said. “It is about being a great student and a great friend.” For Chapman, the strength to do both well comes from something bigger than willpower, and he wants the next generation of Eastern students to know that too.
Brian Maurath knows exactly the kind of person he wants to be: a high school guidance counselor and football coach. He didn’t come into psychology with a clear plan, but over time, he found one. More than ten years as a student-athlete left a mark on him, shaping him in ways both good and hard, and psychology gave him the language to understand it all. The wins, the losses, the pressure, the mentorship, being a student-athlete taught him things about resilience and identity that he now wants to pass on to the next generation of young people finding their footing. He’ll be the first to tell you he doesn’t have a job lined up yet. His search hasn’t started in full, but he’s not panicking. “After I receive my degree in psychology, I will begin finding one in the long run,” he said. He got a preview of the market’s challenges during a winter internship search that didn’t pan out until Eastern offered him a student development role, a humbling reminder that the process takes patience, and that sometimes the right opportunity comes from closer to home than you expect.
Financially, he’s honest about the adjustment ahead. Scholarships made school manageable, but he knows the real world is a different story. What worries him most is finding stability: a job, a home, a comfortable life. These aren’t abstract fears; they’re the real, practical concerns that come with being the first one responsible for your own bottom line. Still, he’s grounded. “Focus on what you want to do in the future and make the most of it,” he told first-years. “Four years will fly by in a second.”
Every one of us is just like these seniors, walking into a different future, different cities, different careers, different unknowns. But they’ve all been shaped by the same four years, and it shows. Whether it’s Luba’s discipline, Maurath’s patience, Swarr’s clarity or Chapman’s conviction, Eastern has given them something that goes beyond a diploma.
None of them has everything figured out. Some have jobs; some are still searching. Some feel financially ready; others are bracing for the adjustment ahead. But what comes through in every conversation is a sense of self, a roundedness in who they are and what they value that will carry them further than any job title could.
The world they’re stepping into isn’t easy. But they are not stepping into it empty-handed, nor are they stepping into it alone.
