College Graduates

College grads taking the next step

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In June 2010, seniors in high school in Valley Stream had just graduated and most set out to different colleges with one common goal: a college degree. Now, four years later, with college degrees in hand, those students are now on very different paths.

Some students are choosing to attend graduate school, others are currently looking for jobs, some are on vacation and some just need to take some time to breathe after the rigors of a college workload.

Katherine Callaghan, the valedictorian of North High School in 2010, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human biology, health and society from Cornell University, which she said takes a “holistic approach” in studying biology, including nutrition, human development and traditional science classes.

She is enrolling at Stony Brook Medical School, where she will begin classes on Aug. 11. Callaghan said that her work at the Cornell Infant Studies Laboratory sparked her interest in going into pediatrics.

She studied emotional word comprehension in toddlers and infants. The goal of the study was to see when children were able to understand basic emotional words like happy, sad, angry and scared.

Research work and community service kept her in Ithaca for most of June and, Callaghan said, she looks forward to spending time with her family before starting medical school.

“I want to be close to my family and interact with the community I grew up in,” she said of her decision to attend Stony Brook.

Jacquelyn Mancini, a Central High School alumna and recent graduate of Mount St. Mary College, studied psychology as an undergraduate and is currently looking for a job in human services.

Despite applying to several jobs and looking for new opportunities on her school’s career center website, Craigslist and Indeed, Mancini said she has not had much luck finding a job, but is trying to remain positive.

“It’s definitely frustrating, but I know it’s hard for everyone to find a job right now,” she said. “I know something will come up.”

During her time in college, Mancini played four years as a goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team, earning her way onto the Skyline Conference’s first team three times. In her career, she posted a goals against average of .65 and pitched 23 career shutouts.

Mancini’s time playing soccer left an idea in her head that she may want to pursue a master’s degree in exercise science, should she not be able to find a job.

Alyssa Barricelli, a North graduate, recently completed a bachelor’s degree in communications with a concentration in journalism from Marist College. She said that she plans to take a month or two to relax after college.

“I don’t have a specific dream job, but anything that would allow me to travel and be creative is something that would be ideal,” she said. “It’s hard because a lot of places want people to start right away and I don’t want that right now. So I’m just waiting until I’m ready.”

She said she’s looking on job websites, but has not applied anywhere yet. After she’s caught her breath, she plans to apply to work with Hearst publications when she’s ready because she had two internships there and would love to work there full-time.

Although Barricelli she is not quite ready to get into the workforce, she said she’s lucky that she is located close to the city.

She said she plans on taking road trips during the summer to visit friends or new places she hasn’t seen on the east coast. She said she studied abroad in Italy, and that doing things near home are cheaper and in a way, more appealing to her.

Christine Lim, the 2010 valedictorian at Central and now an alumna of the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, is currently on a Euro-Trip which she began a week after graduating.

She’s been to Italy, Greece and London and will head to Berlin. She plans to spend a month in Europe, giving her two weeks before starting work at the Nielsen Company. Lim, who majored in marketing and minored in fine arts, will work as a professional services analyst for their marketing performances team.

Lim said that she’ll have a clearer picture of her dream job after she begins work in a few weeks. “I just want to keep making the most of the opportunities I have,” she said, “maintain an open mind but stay sharp and make sure the things I do align with my values and interests.”