With the Badger men’s basketball team headed to the Final Four Saturday, we can’t help but gloat about how awesome it is to be a Badger. This is a time to join in the collective soul of the student body. While our time at college is only a stop on the gameboard, being a Badger is for “Life.” We’re super cheesy, we know. But hey, this is Wisconsin.
What does the journey of higher education mean in 2014? For some of us, it’s a rite of passage into adulthood and a time to explore. For others, it’s a necessity to secure a meaningful and successful career.
Our time here is flooded with choices that seem like they’ll map the rest of our lives. We don’t know about you, but the two of us worry about this often. With one year left before we graduate, this feels like the time to learn any last-minute skills that will give us an edge in the job market.
The idea for the second issue of the Action Project originally came from our own worries about succeeding in post-graduate life. As students, we’re in control of our futures, but with so many options, are we making the right choices? Will what we’re doing in college—from academics to internships to extracurricular activities—be enough to secure successful and fulfilling careers after graduation?
We can’t be the only students with these concerns. Every stage of college introduces new challenges and choices, from deciding on a college, a major, individual classes and extracurricular activities. Sometimes the weight of these decisions feels insurmountable.
Maybe the two of us worry too much. Probably. But this issue aims to help you through the hard decisions and also realize that they aren’t actually the deciding move in the game. The choices we make in college are important, but there is always room for improvement, growth and change beyond graduation. That is sometimes hard to remember.
This issue is about the journey of college. You will find articles on students who chose to take a gap year before continuing on with higher education, the advantages of studying or interning abroad, the long-term effects of concentration drugs as well as other issues facing students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
It’s your turn to make the next move in the game of Life. Which path will you choose?
The Daily Cardinal would like to acknowledge the charitable arm of the Capital Times for providing the funds to make the Action Project possible. See what your fellow Badgers think about why they chose college in the game of Life and let us know what you think by emailing actionproject@dailycardinal.com or tweeting at #dcactionproject. On, Wisconsin!
