Tumbling from the nest of college life into the work world requires graduates to find their wings as they explore new territories. To negotiate the transition from campus life—fulfilling daily needs—through the unfamiliar realms of job interviews, apartment searches, and monthly financial obligations, young adults must draw on previously untapped sources of personal strength and perseverance.

Swarthmore’s Career Services Office offers students and graduates much-needed support during this confusing and often stressful period (see box). For example, questions such as “Who am I, and what do I have to offer?” and “Can I do things that are consistent with my goals and values?” arise. In response, Career Services staff members “offer support by trying to be good and responsive sources of information, feedback, and advice,” says Tom Francis, director of Career Services. “And perhaps most of all, we try to be a place where people can come to have their questions and their uncertainty acknowledged in a non-threatening environment.”

Many alumni continue to use Career Services as they make changes throughout their careers. “Most of our contact of this sort is with alumni in the first five to 10 years after Swarthmore but sometimes later as well,” Francis says. Some consult about the steps for applying to graduate school; others are contemplating career or job changes or difficult work situations such as lack of challenge, discrimination, or gender issues. “The questions are much easier to contemplate if one starts from the feeling that one is not alone,” Francis says.

“When one leaves the womb of ‘Mother Swarthmore,’ the adjustment can be very challenging. But our graduates are very good at coping and at breaking tasks and problems down into manageable components,” he adds.

Demonstrating that ability, 72.1 percent of the Class of 2001 already had plans for employment—based on a Career Services Survey before graduation from 269, or 81 percent, of 332 graduating students. In addition, 18.2 percent wanted to attend graduate or professional school in 2002, 1.1 percent were interested in more undergraduate study, 2.2 percent had travel or vacation plans, 2.2 percent were uncertain at that time, and 4.1 percent had other interests. Of these respondents, 44.2 percent were “very firm” about the certainty of these plans; 17.8 percent, “firm”; 16.7 percent, “tentative”; 9.3 percent, “uncertain”; and 11.9 percent, “very uncertain.”

One year later, seven of these ’01 graduates relate the realities involved during the last year in emerging from the College’s cocoon and creating adult lives in New York, California, and Swarthmore.Class of ’01 Commencement speaker Evan Gregory—whose powerful delivery stirred many—moved to New York from his hometown of Radford, Va., during the spring. “As a recent graduate, my relationships with classmates are very fresh and strong,” he says. “A desire to be closer to the Swarthmore alumni community was one of the major motivations for me to move to the area. Now, as indispensable as those relationships are, there is also a natural desire to meet new people and make new friendships—a task not as easy as one might expect in one of the most populous cities in the world!”

Gregory is working as a telecommuting developer for Oaks Design, for which all of the employees—including Patrick Boe ’01 and Josh Galun ’02—complete software programming projects over the Internet. The company has no central office, and the employees live in places such as Philadelphia; New York; and Washington, D.C. “The closest thing to a ‘base’ that exists is the home of my boss, Rob Oaks, who lives, somewhat ironically, on Vassar Avenue in Swarthmore, across the street from [Associate Dean of the College for Student Life] Tedd Goundie. We provide custom software solutions on a contract basis to various clients. As developers, Patrick and I are responsible for programming the functional portion of the software,” Gregory says.

As a graduate who had a double major in computer science and music, he is also exploring opportunities for musical theater; singing both pop and classical; composing, writing, and arranging music; and producing recordings. “The skills I developed at Swarthmore, both in my studies and my extracurricular musical endeavors, have given me a strong base on which I could build experience in any of these musical subfields. At any rate, I am excited about the opportunities that exist here in the city.”

Gregory, who is living in Spanish Harlem, has found the ability to spend more time with his family in Radford the most gratifying aspect of the last year. “Undoubtedly, the most fulfilling part of the year was the opportunity to reconnect with my family, from whom I felt rather detached while immersed in my studies at Swarthmore.”

He thinks that the College has prepared him for the challenges of the working world, “having learned at Swarthmore to approach every question with an open mind and to evaluate all potential solutions objectively. I think one of the most important products of an education, at Swarthmore or anywhere else, is the unceasing hunger for more information, or at the very least, a wide-eyed curiosity about things foreign.”

Gregory, however, is also aware of the challenges resulting from an insatiable appetite for knowledge, saying: “An idealism attributable to both sparkly eyed youth and Swarthmorean ambition prevents me from choosing a career path decisively. There are just too many things I want to try, countless numbers of which I will never get the chance or have the time to do. But, nevertheless, I am looking forward to pursuing a lot of different occupations in the future.”

Two of the Swarthmore friends that Gregory has reconnected with in New York are roommates Andrea Juncos and Leah Zallman, who live with Zallman’s roommate from her Study Abroad Program, Sarah Lazarus (Vassar ’01).

“Finding affordable housing in New York is always problematic, but we were lucky to find this apartment on our second day of looking,” Zallman says. Remembering their good fortune after using a broker, Juncos adds, it “was a miracle because the three of us had very little time available for apartment hunting. And it’s been wonderful living here in a safe, beautiful area, close to Central Park, and near some of the city’s best restaurants.”

Juncos is working downtown as part of the editorial team at Catalyst (www.catalystwomen.org), a nonprofit research and consulting organization that works to advance women and people of color in business and the professions. “We work with large companies and firms to help them address issues related to diversity in the workplace, with a special focus on women’s issues,” says Juncos, who writes, edits, and researches projects for the Marketing and Strategy Department. A special major in education and English literature, she found the job last summer from an on-line job bank that focuses on the nonprofit sector. “I came to New York because there were so many opportunities, several people that I am close to, and because this city is such an exciting and interesting place to be—especially as a new college graduate.”

Zallman works in the North Bronx as a research coordinator in the Department of Family Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, working primarily to improve the quality of end-of-life care. “I found this job by e-mailing Peter Selwyn ’76, the chairman of the department, who saw a nice fit between this position and my experience and interests,” says Zallman, who majored in biology with a public policy concentration.

Besides the financial challenges of living in New York, Juncos has made some other adjustments in her new life. “At Swarthmore, you take so many classes and participate in all kinds of activities; your mind is constantly being stimulated by a number of different subjects. Being at school allows you to address a number of your interests with little effort. But in the working world, your time is distributed differently—you have to put more effort into seeking out the things that interest you,” she says.

“But New York has so much to offer, although it can feel a little overwhelming at times,” Juncos adds. “I think I could live here for years and still not do everything that I want to do. Unlike at Swarthmore, I have nights and weekends free, which is such a positive change. But coming from Swarthmore to New York City, at first, you don’t even know where to start.”

Zallman thought that life after Swarthmore would similarly afford her extra time. But “I have found that, like my time at Swarthmore, my postgraduate life has been busy, and there is, once again, not enough time to do everything that my environment offers me.”

She has also had to adapt to her newfound independence, which is both the most fulfilling and distressing part of the last year. “It is hard after being at Swarthmore, where I had constant guidance and feedback, to move into an environment where I am often much more on my own,” Zallman says. “My approach to projects has certainly changed. Projects are often more group oriented now than when I was at Swarthmore, which changes how I go about them. Now, instead of integrating theories and literature sources, I integrate people’s needs and interests with my own abilities and style.”

Although still surrounded by many College friends, Juncos has also had to learn how to make new friends again. “Of course, it’s certainly not as easy as when we arrived at Swarthmore...;. But a lot of my Swarthmore friends have met people through work or volunteering, connecting with old high school friends, or just bumping into new people. So our circle of friends is constantly growing.”

Although both Juncos and Zallman are relieved to have the pressure of a heavy academic workload behind them, they both feel the absence of their classmates, professors, and staff. “I miss constantly being around a group of independently motivated people, many of whom were my age,” says Zallman, who is applying to medical schools and is working toward a career in academic and/or international medicine.

“I also miss going to student performances, being on the beautiful campus, and chatting—and procrastinating—with friends at Sharples until closing time,” Juncos says. “I miss the unique camaraderie that comes from sharing an intense experience with people at such a formative time of life. But the friendships I made at Swarthmore will be part of my life forever.”

Down the pike, Juncos is considering going to graduate school. “But I am taking a couple of years to explore my varying interests, through my job, volunteering as a mentor for Girls Write Now, and just by observing different aspects of this city and all it has to offer. I will definitely stick around New York for a little while. I love it here, but I am also excited about where my path will take me next,” she says.

Across the country in Novato, Calif. (in Marin County, 30 miles north of San Francisco), Jane Ng and Eric Leive are living together and working as digital artists for Ronin Entertainment (www.roningames.com), an interactive software development company. Both interned with the company during their junior year.

“The whole thing started when I requested a Cooper Foundation grant during my sophomore year to invite a person from the special effects/computer game industry to come to campus,” says Ng. “I came into contact with Terrence Masson, then a supervisor at Industrial Light and Magic, the firm owned by George Lucas that made all the effects for the Star Wars movies, who became my Cooper speaker and friend. The Cooper event was held in February of my junior year, and by then, Terrence had become the director of development at Ronin. During his stay at Swarthmore, I showed him my portfolio, and he agreed to have me as an intern over the summer.”

In 2001, with a shrinking job market, Ng and Leive decided to move to Novato even though Ronin could not hire them immediately. “I decided to work for free until they were so impressed by my work, they would have to take me in,” says Ng. “At that time, they were at the end stages of making Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon, an Xbox game title. I offered my services to the leader of the next project, who said I could make some maquettes for his character designs. After Eric and I made four 6-inch-tall full-body sculptures and four 5-inch-tall busts, Ronin wanted to have us as part of the team even in the gloom of a bad economy. We agreed to a less than desirable compensation plan, which included some of our salary to be paid retroactively” when new funding became available.

Adjusting to their tight salaries and drawing on savings has been difficult, but they have been compensated in other ways. “I love my work, and many of my co-workers have become good friends over the past year,” says Leive, who has a sense of creative control and valued input in their projects. “Work is extremely demanding, both time-wise and in terms of creative energy, but I enjoy the variety of work I get to do. Despite what people may think, it involves a lot more than just sitting around and playing games all day.”

Leive thinks that the heavy workload at Swarthmore prepared him well for his current responsibilities. “No matter what comes my way now, it pales in comparison with what I went through at Swarthmore. In talking to a couple of other Swatties, I realize that we could all be prepared a little better in knowing when we’re taking too many responsibilities from an employer. One of my friend’s biggest criticisms in his first review after graduation was he didn’t complain enough when he was swamped. I feel like we were trained so well to just soldier on and do what needed to get done that sometimes we don’t look to see if we really should be doing it,” he says.

Ng and Leive found their apartment via the Internet while they were still in Swarthmore and signed a lease without even seeing their new home. “Fortunately, the place was very nice—it even has a view of the bay,” says Ng, who thinks of herself as a “very adaptable person” after leaving Hong Kong for Canada when she was age 14. “So moving out from school to California was more fun than challenging. The most challenging part is figuring out my legal status as a Canadian citizen and tax residency status without the aid of advisers at Swarthmore. I didn’t have to worry about obtaining visas and learning about new tax forms when I was at school.”

In terms of other notable experiences during the last year, Ng says: “Another strange new thing is that I am the only female out of about 35 employees at Ronin. This is commonplace in the interactive software business, and I am actually very proud to be somewhat of a pioneering female in the field. I am very fortunate to have considerate and genuinely nice co-workers, who never once made me feel like I am the odd gender out and that I am not part of the team. It is, however, much harder for me to find female friends in the area, and I am very glad to be able to keep in constant contact with my Swarthmore friends on-line.”

Despite the rewards of their current life, they both miss the simple pleasures in Swarthmore. “I miss Parrish beach,” says Ng. “I miss the fact that I could just walk to Worth [Health Center] when I didn’t feel well and be taken care of. I miss having academic discussions, and I miss hearing the intellectual dialogue of others at school. I miss the company of some of my professors. I miss the company of my various eccentric friends,” she says, echoing Leive.

“The majority of my Swarthmore friends are either on the East Coast or abroad, so I don’t get to see them nearly as much as I’d like,” he says. But “Jane and I both live and work together, which has been great and has made it easier to be away from my other friends. At this point, I couldn’t imagine being in a relationship where the other person didn’t understand what I did. We manage to keep our personal relationship separate from our work relationship, and so far, it seems to be working well.”

After receiving job offers from a start-up management consulting firm and from Microsoft, Kwabena Adu and Keith Bentrup, respectively, decided to stay close to Swarthmore—and start their own business. Adu had accepted his job offer in December 2000, but a week after graduation, he received notice from the company, eliminating new-hire positions as a result of the crashing economy. Bentrup never accepted Microsoft’s offer because he simply didn’t want to live in Seattle.

“Maintaining Swarthmore friendships has been very important to me and part of the reason that I stayed in the area,” Bentrup says. “The quality of life that we have is so intimately tied to the quality of our relationships. I’ve found that my relationships with Swatties, the faculty, staff, and the community are unparalleled.”

Adu had been Bentrup’s project partner in their final Swarthmore computer science class and discovered “the partner I’d been looking for.” Bentrup was also mulling over starting a similar venture. After taking inventory of their skills and knowledge, Adu realized “we could offer an even wider range of services together,” he says. Bentrup was proficient in several programming languages and relished computer graphic and Web site design; Adu knew Macintoshes and was familiar with networking.

Adu, who majored in computer science and took engineering for more than two years, is convinced that information technology is the “wave of the future for Ghana,” his homeland. Tennessee native Bentrup, a biochemistry special major with a concentration in computer science, telecommuted as a programmer for a pharmaceutical company in Connecticut the summer after graduation.

Soon, the partners decided to go into business together, forming Lucid Tech Solutions LLC (www.lucidtechsolutions.com). Still providing their services at the College, Adu and Bentrup also offer complete computing technology advising, planning, implementation, and support to small businesses, nonprofits, schools, and homes in Philadelphia and Delaware County.

Adu and Bentrup also take satisfaction in the educational aspect of their work. “We’ve had the unique challenge of starting a business with no capital—except our intellectual assets—and developing it into a profitable one,” says Bentrup. “In just 10 months, we have had to learn, implement, and support a breadth of technologies that our counterparts in more established firms take years to do, which can be scary at times,” says Adu, who lives in Secane, Pa.

Even though Bentrup still lives near the College in Wallingford, Pa., with Peter Yoo ’01 and Mike Duffy ’01, he finds his new life different from his experience as a student. “I find myself speaking a different language of both an entrepreneur and a consultant. My life revolves around time, efficiency, profit and loss, business law, cash flow, and techno-speak. Beyond all the business aspects, I’ve also studied a fair amount of human psychology, which has proved invaluable in establishing relationships and rapport in the business world as well as motivating myself and employees—oh and, of course, marketing, which is itself the study of human psychology.”

Up to this point, their new business has largely grown through referrals. Adu and Bentrup first ask, “What problem do you want solved?” Then, they come up with a solution that is both affordable and “lucid to the client,” Adu says. Their goal is to make the solution worthy of compensation.

“Starting your own business is almost an unfathomable experience for those who haven’t, but I highly recommend it,” says Bentrup. “I’ve had to learn so much about many aspects of people, business, and law. I’ve studied both federal and Pennsylvania law, accounting, marketing, salesmanship, the hiring process, the intangible art of interacting with so many different types of people from clients to competitors to employees. It’s almost overwhelming, but more often than not, it’s also fun,” he adds.

Bentrup envisions remaining on the same path for a while. “I’m one year out of college and have my own successful business with a great partner and intelligent, hard-working employees. I’m close to my Swarthmore friends and the College itself.

“I choose my hours. I’m building my own business, not someone else’s. I can stop what I’m doing and go for a run in the Crum anytime I like. By next year, I could be leading the same life but from anywhere in the country or while traveling the globe. Yeah, I’ll stick with this for a while,” he says.

One of the many useful books in the Career Services Office library is Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties by 20-somethings Alexandra Robbins and Abby Wilner (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2001). For additional information about the resources available through Career Services, visit www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/career_services.