Illustration by Amelia Madarang
While Lewis & Clark seniors from the 2019-20 school year had to graduate during a historic pandemic, many of them likely planned for their post-graduate lives, in some part, under normal circumstances. For seniors who spent their final year of college taking online courses and searching for “remote” opportunities on Handshake, this time has felt very different.
Despite this challenge, LC seniors will represent a variety of options when it comes to their post-graduate plans. Some will continue their education, while others will enter the job market or take a gap year. Each plan is valid and represents the work that seniors have put into their time at LC.
International affairs major Mary-Claire Spurgin ’21 is planning on going to law school, but is still waiting to hear back from some schools before she makes a final decision on where she will attend. Spurgin felt that law school was a natural fit for her, as she enjoys research and writing. Her advisor, Cyrus Partovi, was also an early advocate for her attending law school, and has supported her throughout the process.
“I see the legal system as one of the most effective conduits through which we can effect change, so becoming a lawyer felt like it sat at the intersection of ‘things I would like to do’ and ‘things that can hopefully accomplish some good in the world,’” Spurgin said via email.
Spurgin said that the pandemic provided her the opportunity to examine her post-graduate options critically.
“I had originally wanted to wait until a few years after graduation, both to give myself a bit of a break from academics and to get some work experience; applicants who’ve worked for a few years tend to be more competitive than those who are straight out of undergrad,” Spurgin said. “ But last spring, after Covid started to spread and I returned home from my study abroad, I found myself with pretty much nothing but time to sit around and think about life, and I realized I was really unhappy with that plan — I felt like I was just going to be biding time until the next thing. So I decided to see what happened if I applied this year, and I’m really lucky that things worked out the way they did!”
Due to the pandemic, graduating college students around the country also had more time to prepare for law school.
“In terms of the actual application process, I had lots more time to study for the LSAT and work on essays than I would have without the pandemic — but at the same time, many other people have had the same experience, so applications are up to unprecedented levels and this is, I think, the most competitive cycle ever,” Spurgin said.
Psychology major Nova Platt ’21 is planning on taking some time off before she continues her education.
“Post graduation, I plan to work for a year or two before going to graduate school,” Platt said via email. “I want to get my masters in social work, and I have heard from many people who have taken that path that it is a good idea to take a gap year to get some real work experience, so that is what I plan to do. I have also been in school every year since I was 5 and I am really excited to see what the world is like without that.”
Although she is nervous about entering the current job market, Platt said that the pandemic has put her plans into perspective and has affected her outlook on post-graduate life.
“The biggest thing this pandemic has taught me is how uncertain everything is,” Platt said. “It sounds cheesy, but it’s really helped me see that everything can change in an instant. I think it has helped me be more flexible about my post grad plans too..”
The senior experience this year has not been a normal one, and many expectations have had to change as a result. Despite this, LC seniors are persevering and making the most of their situations.
“It’s definitely a mixed bag,” Spurgin said. “Above all else, I’m so continually grateful that we were able to return to campus at all — I can’t imagine doing senior year from anywhere but Portland. Additionally, I’m able to be in a pod with some of my favorite people, which really helps with the isolation that we’re all experiencing; I’m really, really lucky to always have friends around.”
Platt said the COVID-19 pandemic has made the future seem more uncertain than usual.
“The senior experience has been really strange this year,” Platt said. “I feel a little better knowing that we’ve all kind of settled into this new sense of normal, so it definitely feels like it could be worse. But again, everything is so uncertain. There is only one other class of graduates who have done this before, so there aren’t a whole lot of examples of how to navigate it. It’s kind of surreal, but I’m just hoping that in a couple years or even decades we can look back and laugh about what a strange time we were living through.”
Spurgin said that it is difficult to spend her last year taking classes virtually, but is proud of how LC has responded to the pandemic.
“It’s weird to have huge experiences like writing my thesis largely on Zoom — I think the whole senior experience doesn’t quite feel real,” Spurgin said. “But mostly I’m so happy to be physically here and that we’ve largely been so healthy as a community.”
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