Coping with being unemployed post-grad

By Anie Hunt humor columnist

Seniors, if you’re anything like me, you’ve been actively searching for a job the last three months with nothing to show for it — except for a couple of lousy rejection emails.

With graduation rapidly approaching, it’s finally time to accept the fact that you’re going to be unemployed. Well, if you’re a Newhouse student, you definitely will be. If you’re a Whitman student, congratulations on the next 10 years at Deloitte.

Searching for a job can feel like a neverending purgatory of incessant networking calls, interviews and rejections. You’ve been dodging your mom’s calls because you know she only wants to talk about one thing: your job search. She wants to know whether you’ve applied to any new job postings and whether you emailed that one guy who graduated from Syracuse in 1966. If you plan on moving back home in May, things are about to change.

I’m not sure if anyone told you this, but there’s no way to avoid the frequent inquiries of your parents when you live in the same house as them. To be fair, all they want is the best for you. Consider their perspective. They’ve spent the last 21 years sharing their home with a money-sucking parasite who decided to pursue a liberal arts degree, and now all they want to do is pretend to hate being empty-nesters.

Being unemployed isn’t easy. I mean, it’s sort of easy in the sense you don’t have a job and you’re not working. However, the emotional and financial damage of being unemployed can be a lot to bear. As a fellow jobless loser, I’m here to help.

Here are five ways to cope with your newly acquired unemployment status:

Give up your job search and go to grad school.

Maybe you want to push off adulthood for a couple more years? Or maybe you’re just interested in collecting more debt? No matter what your reason is, make sure you’re getting your master’s in something really important like creative writing, anthropology or writing creatively about anthropology.

Lie!

Did NBC reject you for the sixth time? Tell your closest friends and family you finally got that dream job. Tell ‘em you’re making six figures straight out of college and all of your coworkers are totally obsessed with you. It’s not like anyone can fact-check you.

Pretend your side hustle is your main hustle.

Tell people DoorDash is far more fulfilling than any full-time gig. Don’t forget to rant about how other people are chained to their cubicles while you’re out there exploring the world. And just to clarify, by “world” I’m referring to the 20-mile radius where you’re allowed to do deliveries.

Network.

There’s nothing more terrifying than talking to a real adult person who knows more than you. They know how to pay taxes and how much to tip at restaurants. And you — well, you have a vague idea of what taxes and restaurants are. Pro tip: make sure to include as many grammatical and spelling errors as possible in your networking emails. This is a great way to lower your mentor’s expectations so when they meet you they’re delighted that you can even form a sentence.

Events

Grad Weekend

Senior Celebration 2023

The Senior Celebration will be held on Thursday, May 11, serving as one of the final times seniors can commemorate their four years at Syracuse University. The SU Royal Court chose the theme of the celebration as “Light at the End of the Tunnel.” From 1-5 p.m., on the Einhorn Family Walk, those who attend can see performances from SU community members and music from a DJ. Activities for the celebration also include caricatures, airbrush tattoos and photo ops.

Arts and Sciences Alumni Academy: The Hall of Languages at 150: Celebrating a Syracuse Icon

Post a long-winded paragraph on LinkedIn about your unemployment status. One of my favorite things is when LinkedIn influencer wannabes post those long semi-inspirational paragraphs. It’s not really clear what message they’re trying to convey, but it usually ends with something like, “never give up!” or “and that’s why I left my high-paying position to pursue podcasting.” Take a page out of their books and write a 1500-word post that will have your connections commenting, “you good, bro?” ahunt04@syr.edu

Whether you’re working as a barista or bussing tables at some Italian restaurant, just remember that almost every new graduate is in your position (except for every Whitman student). It’s important to stop torturing yourself by reading other people’s LinkedIn job announcements and focus on your own version of success. At the risk of sounding sappy, if you’re returning home this May, appreciate the extra time you have to spare. Make that bread recipe with your mom. Help your dad clean out the garage. Teach your little sister how to braid.

The Hall of Languages, one of the most recognizable buildings at SU, turned 150 on May 8, 2023. On Thursday, May 11 from 4-5 p.m., SU alumni Robert Searing, curator of history at the Onondaga Historical Association, will lead a discussion on the history of HoL. The talk will be held virtually and registration can be done here.

The 23rd Annual Art History Graduate Symposium and grab … clothes or food,” Johnson said. “And I just remember feeling so scared. There was barely anybody on the quad, and I remember rushing past Carnegie steps and sprinting through the orange grove because I felt like somebody was behind me.”

The Department of Art & Music Histories will honor nine students at its annual Art History Graduate Symposium. Graduate students Steph Adams, Hannah Alvino, Ankush Arora, Madeline Drewes, Rachael Hickman, Julia Neufeld, J. Sabine Rishell, Madelaine Cosette Thomas and Dominic Zaffino will present their work during the ceremony. The event is open to the public on Friday, May 12, from 9-12:15 p.m. in 132 Lyman Hall and will be held on Zoom. Registration can be done online.

Johnson was ready to transfer after her first semester because of the events of #NotAgainSU and the isolation she felt as a Black woman in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

“I had never been in a school like Whitman before, which was so competitive and nobody looked like me,” Johnson said. “So over winter break, it was a lot of coming to terms with #NotAgainSU and then also my time as a student.”

Six or seven of her friends left, but Johnson chose to stay. She dove into activities that could give her a network of support, finding groups specifically for Black women across campus like the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Johnson said being an Orientation Leader for Syracuse Welcome, activities for new students before classes start, helped her mental health.

Being a part of campus activities is part of the legacy she is leaving behind, and other students appreciate it as well. Sophomore orientation leader Katherine Keane said that she could rely on Johnson for support.

“Even as a new OL, I got to spend a lot of time with Clarke during welcome week, and that time was often just spent talking,” Keane said. “She is someone who is incredibly easy to feel safe around.”

Additionally, the #NotAgainSU protests sparked changes to create a space for Black students on campus now known as 119 Euclid.

Following the events of #NotAgainSU, SEM 100, a course for first-years following the Theta Tau incident that dealt with discrimination, became required. The class was changed to FYS 101 to include more discussions of SU’s history of discrimination, and Johnson became a peer leader for the class.

Johnson was always bothered by the way #NotAgainSU was taught in the class. The course uses a video that doesn’t tell the full story, she said. It doesn’t include how the univer- sity mistreated students by denying them food and the ability to use the restroom during the Crouse-Hinds Hall protests. Johnson didn’t say anything until her second time as a peer leader.

“I interrupted the class and I was like ‘I’m so sorry, but that video that they’re playing, it’s bullsh*t,’” Johnson said.

SU graduate student Troy Parks, who Johnson referred to as an older sister, described Johnson as someone who would try to help people.

“I definitely feel like if you’re an activist, you have to (become) a leader because #NotAgainSU, you could tell it was really draining to the Black community,” Parks said. “Her just offering her smile and her jokes and advice really helped some rlboehm@syr.edu

Senior film majors in the College of Visual and Performing Arts

Department of Film and Media Arts will have their work featured at a screening on Friday, May 12, from 12-6 p.m. at the Shemin Auditorium in the Shaffer Art Building. Additional screening will be held on May 13 and 14. The event is open to the public.

Many SU graduates will be honored at Itanwa Orina (Our Story, Our Song), a graduation ceremony that celebrates the achievements of SUs students of color. The ceremony will honor all degree recipients who identify as a part of the African diaspora. The keynote speaker of the ceremony will be Sunny Hostin, an attorney and three-time Emmy Award-winning legal journalist. The event will be held on Friday, May 12, from 6-8 p.m. at the John A. Lally Athletics Complex and is open to the campus community, parents and families.