Graduation is quickly approaching.

Classes end in six weeks, and thousands will pour into Koch Arena at different times throughout May to celebrate the new alumni of Wichita State.

There will be cake and celebrations, but will there be jobs lined up for these graduates? I’m not so sure.

In a recent talk with Career Services in Grace Wilke Hall, many graduates are taking advantage of the opportunities WSU offers, but many are not.

While I understand that WSU is a commuter school, it still has traditional opportunities I’d personally like to see more people involved with.

Many students are coasting through their classes and hoping they will get a job sometime around their graduation date.

With student loan interest rates being what they are, I refuse to sit by and watch my college career slip away because I’m a little “stressed.”

We only get to do college once, and I’d like to look back and know I made connections with people.

I think of everyone I come in contact with as someone who might know a person that could potentially get me where I want to go after I graduate.

If my professor doesn’t know I want to travel with my career, they will never know my interests or what will make me happy.

I do think a majority of WSU professors want us to succeed. But we have to remember we are entitled to nothing. I was talking to one of my professors who was upset because a student felt they deserved an “A,” when he didn’t even know what they looked like because he hadn’t seen them in class before.

College is supposed to be hard. And it’s OK to make mistakes. I would rather make mistakes now than when I’m 25 and working on my professional career.

I deserve nothing if I don’t put in the work. If I don’t explore internships or shadow people in their careers, I won’t have any idea if that is an option for me.

Many professionals like it when students ask questions about their jobs. They might not have a lot of time for you, but it’s a huge compliment to have someone want to know how you do your job, because it means you’re doing something right.

Career Services encouraged me to keep emailing professionals in journalism to have shadow days to go see what they are doing. I have shadowed a few people before, but I am going to hit it harder than ever before this coming year.

I want the security when May 2015 comes around to know I’m on my way to a career I can be happy with.