By The Editorial Board

As the semester winds down, and with Spring Weekend upon us, everyone at Fordham is beginning to consider what summer will bring, despite the residual, lingering chills which prevent full utilization of Edward’s Parade. One group of students, however, is carefully considering its final moments on this campus: the seniors of Fordham University’s graduating class of 2013.

You, who were the last to reside in Hughes Hall. You, who remember when the business school was nameless, faceless and homeless. You, who have filled out every form, all the requirements and tirelessly checked your my.Fordham accounts to ensure that you do not have holds preventing you from receiving the most expensive piece of paper any of you will likely ever buy. When you walk across Keating’s steps on May 18, you end a period of your lives which you may recall with fondness, anger or indifference.

Many of you may be asking, “What now?” In an economy which, though it continues to recover from the near-depression that began in 2007, is not at its strongest for recent college graduates. Many soon-to-be graduates are discouraged as they assess their options beyond Fordham.

Seniors may begin to wonder if their hard-won undergraduate degrees will actually help them in the rapidly changing and unstable economy. Perhaps this question is the most important of all. It means that the road ahead stretches far beyond your eyes. It is not one to be decided by credit counts, time slots or votes.

Rather than see the road after college as fraught with pitfalls, perhaps seniors should see it as covered in opportunities. College has prepared you to do more than write papers and time how late you can sleep in before you are late to class.

College has shown you how to work with minimal sleep under stressful conditions. Sure, maybe sometimes you created those situations yourselves, but it’s a very similar situation to a boss breathing down your neck asking when the report they asked for will be done. College has given you an opportunity to learn how to network and speak to those with seniority in a professional and respectful manner. College has given you the chance to live in what many call the greatest city in the world.

Maybe right now things do not look that bright, unless you are one of the lucky Gabelli students who have had his or her post-grad plans locked up since sophomore year. Maybe right now it does not seem like your degree at Fordham was worth it as you prepare for post-grad purgatory, but we at The Fordham Ram believe that it will be, just maybe not right away.

Take a step back and think about it. Fordham has given you numerous intangibles that you may not have gotten at a state institution. By now the catch phrases “men and women for others” and “educating the whole person” are probably ingrained in your head, but they do actually hold meaning. You have learned how to work as a part of a team, which is useful in any industry. You have learned to sacrifice your time for others and not be completely locked in your own little universe.

You suffered your way through two philosophies and two theologies, but you never know in a job interview if your interviewer is a huge fan of St. Augustine’s readings. The skills you gained in those eloquentia perfecta classes will definitely come in handy when you communicate with coworkers.

The message here is do not give up yet. Right now things may look uncertain, and you may be cursing the very institution whose degree may very well get you a six-figure job ten years from now, so do not completely freak out about the job market. Things have a way of working out.