Spring semester brings blue skies, fresh flowers, and fresh experiences for UW-La Crosse graduating seniors. As the year comes to a close, those seniors must put together plans for what to do when another semester of undergrad will not be returning come September. Whether the plan is more school, a new job, or new locations, UW-L seniors have a lot of unique plans.

Some students are planning to continue their education right away. Senior Ben Gosselin elaborated on his post-graduation plan, “After graduation I am attending Marquette School of Dentistry on a full ride scholarship with the United States Navy,” Gosselin continues, “After that I will be a licensed dentist with the Navy, working in the hospitals on their vessels and potentially around the world.” Graduate school will provide Gosselin a path to his goals.

Certain students are going to be jumping right into the professional world. UW-L Senior Ari Filiatrault, who has just 24 hours between graduation and starting her new job, describes her plan as a bit hectic, “My position title is ‘Talent Acquisition Coordinator” Filiatrault continues, “I’ll be working for a company called Ecolab at their global headquarters in St. Paul, MN.” Filiatrault also said that one of her career goals is to move up through the company and eventually decide which nonprofits to support financially.

A number of UW-L students plan on relocating to get closer to an opportunity to reach their dreams. Sam McNaughton spoke about his post-graduation plan, “After graduation I plan on moving to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career in the music industry” McNaughton discloses on his history with music, “Music has been the biggest part of my life since I was a little kid so the plan to move out to California is extremely exciting for me.” McNaughton is currently employed by LA-based Management Company, TH3RDBRAIN and plans to continue work there come summer.

On the other hand, some UW-L students are already employed in their field. UW-L’s Alex Costello elaborated on her career goals, “I currently work full time at news 8 as a news photojournalist, but the goal is to be a documentary filmmaker” Costello tells more about her goals, “I want to work with a company that sheds light on social justice issues, in a way that utilizes my talents to make a difference and spreads awareness through videos.”

Other UW-L students plan on a little bit of everything. Senior Mitch Gray discloses on their plan, “Two weeks after graduation I’ll be heading out to Massachusetts where I got into a Musical Theater Conservatory at the Barrington Stage Company,” Gray describes the conservatory as a training program, “I’ll be out there for 10 weeks before I move to Minneapolis come the fall, where I’ll be auditioning around trying to find work.” Gray also plans on attending graduate school for acting in the next few years but plans on making money and having fun along the way.

Spring semester brings an opportunity for UW-L students to apply what they learned as a student, and a chance to craft their own path.