The Philippine Online Chronicles

Are there really college graduates who refuse to graduate or are reluctant to? Sounds incredible -- but there are.

March is graduation month for many college seniors here in our country.  For many of them, this means going up to yet another level of life's adventures.  The downside is  leaving behind the "easy" student life where all they worry about are coping with term papers, exams, and school projects, getting passing grades, and budgetting their weekly allowance. Departure from the way of life they’ve known for the greater part of 20 years can be daunting, especially when they still harbor illusions life is just about partying and chilling out.

That could be a bit of a problem.

Most students think independence is the ultimate price graduation could offer. After all, that translates to freedom from parents’ curfews and goodbye to pet peeves like terror teachers, tedious projects, surprise quizzes and all. How many know that end of school means bigger responsibilities? Sadly, very few. And they are in for a shock.

My mom used to tell me that student years are the happiest part of a person’s life and should be cherished and preserved in memory. Today, as a mother of three children, she often wishes she could turn back time and enjoy a bit more of the "good, old carefree days."

Her revelation played and replayed in my mind almost exactly a year ago while seated on a monoblock chair at our school gym, waiting for my name to be called to get on stage and receive my diploma. At that moment, I knew with little doubt I was not ready to leave school -- not just yet. And soon after, many of my batchmates confessed they didn’t either.

When I finally turned my tassle to the other side, symbolizing the culmination of my schooling, I silently said to myself: "No, World, you have to wait. I am not joining you just yet."

Parting from friends

It is not easy to say goodbye to friends with whom you have shared the good and bad times of college life. It is sad you can no longer chew on the latest gossip together, banter, or just slack off. You miss the times you helped each other review for exams or finish a project or merely commiserate with each other.

True, today's technology keeps you in touch with your friends through emails, e-chats and Facebook posts. But it’s not the same as seeing them five times a week.

Not ready for work

A typical reason that young graduates balk at the prospect of graduating is their fear of joining the corporate or work environment. It is for them an unknown except for stories they hear and read about the so-called "rat race." And "rat race" doesn’t sound like a remotely palatable sport.

"Somehow, even with a bachelor’s degree, I don’t feel I’m equipped to contribute to the betterment of society,' another friend confessed. 'Something is lacking and I do not know what it is."

Another batchmate has a similar fear. Working is not yet her calling right now, she asserts. She isn’t ready to take a bite of the real world. Another friend fears to job-hunt at a time the economy is down and the employment market, tight. Indeed, as it turned out, most of us who graduated last year had a hard time finding their proverbial place in the proverbial sun even after applying at upwards of 10 companies. It is obviously humiliating to be labeled an official bum when you expected to at last make it to the world of young professionals.

And look at it this way. When you begin a job, you are typically expected to work, work, work from then on. Work without end can be a chilling prospect for many fresh graduates with stars in their eyes.

Earnest learners

A friend has her own take on why she refuses to leave school:  she prefers to study again. It is an exceptional take since not everyone is in love with the idea of school. As a matter of fact, many "loathed" going to school. (Just recently I found a quote on facebook that said the word “studying” is a combination of “student” and “dying”) She must be a living wonder, classmates must have thought of this friend who wanted to extend her student days. Apparently her college course (which was Communication Arts) at her alma mater Miriam College was her parents’ choice. And now, she is taking up a different course -- New Media Design --  which was her personal choice in the first place.

If this friend is a living wonder, then I must be exceptional, too. Because, eventually, I chose to take graduate studies right after graduation. Early on, post-graduate studies has been a part of my life’s plan. Sure, I went job hunting during the summer months, but my eyes were focused on getting a master’s degree.

Sorry, that is not completely true! Frankly, graduate studies became an excuse to defer entry into the adult world of daunting responsibilities, for which I felt unprepared. I have been taunted on my decision to study again. "In our time, we couldn’t wait to start working and earning," one uncle said incredulously. But I didn’t expect people, especially the older folks, to understand how school makes me feel a lot safer than the so-called "real world."

Looking back now, given that end of school means bigger responsibilties, I find "congratulations"  with which well-wishers greet new graduates somewhat ironic. It may just as well be replaced with "good luck," if not "condolence."

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