Junior Caroline Shuman has modest ambitions about her time at Guilford College, “I want to graduate within four years with a decent GPA.”

Following that, she wants to bake bread, and not just a loaf to celebrate graduation. Shuman wants to be a head baker in a great bakery. Confident in her talents and comfortable with her direction, Shuman is part of a trend: students who have the credentials to pursue the scholarly arts, but who are drawn to the old trades. Job satisfaction for them comes from being happy with what they can craft with their hands.

“I’m happiest when I see people eat the things I’ve made,” said Shuman.

What would two history majors want to do after graduation? Seniors Nicholas MacSeoin and Robert Otto frown big.

“I have no idea,” MacSeoin said.

“No idea,” repeated Otto.

They definitely aren’t planning to go to graduate school next year.

“I don’t want to be surrounded by people who know what they want to do for the rest of their lives,” MacSeoin says.

He hasn’t been excited about a career since he gave up on being an NFL wide receiver. He has considered spending a year in AmeriCorps or looking for internships with the National Park Service.

Otto is thinking about the Peace Corps or Teach for America. He wants to work for a non-profit someday.

“I’ve been cynical about most of the major employers since high school,” he said.

Even people with more time to think about what to do next are worried.

Three juniors who were having a pretty good time hanging out in front of King Hall groaned loudly when asked what they plan to do after graduation.

The first, Meredith Luby, is tired of advice from people who tell her about jobs she could do, but not jobs that she wants.

“I don’t want to work in advertising,” said Luby. “I want to write fiction.”

Chesapeake First is perplexed about what she’ll actually do for a living, but she knows what she’d like.

“I want to have a farm with chickens and goats, meanwhile defeating capitalism and sexism,” said First.

“There are no real jobs that blend with us,” said junior Maia Buess.

Luby isn’t worried about job prospects during the world economic crisis.

“Every era has its problems,” said Luby, but she also said she cried over an assignment to make a plan for the rest of her education and the rest of her life.

She is not alone.

Most traditional students worry about choosing a major. Some are happy with their major, but worry about the wrong graduate school. Some are still looking for the first clue.

Career Counselor Lisa Tell wants them all to know about the Community and Career Center located in the basement of Founders.

Tell gripped the arms of her office chair and leaned forward, saying, “I believe a student’s relationship with this office is one of the most important they can have on campus.”

The Career Center helps students find what they’re fit for and what will be satisfying. Assessment tools available to all Guilford students help them sort it all out.

Tell and Career Development Counselor Vivian Lutian praise the Myers Briggs Personality Inventory and career books such as, “I’m Not Crazy, I’m Just Not You” and “Do What You Are.”

Getting where you want to be is easier if you understand your abilities and your learning style. Senior Madeleine Straubel works at the Learning Commons located on the second floor of the library.

“Take advantage of this place,” said Straubel. “So many people get hung up on things we can help with.”

Melissa Daniel Frink, director of the Learning Commons, urges everyone to take the learning strategies course (listed in the catalogue as GST 120).

“Seniors take it and wish they had known about it four years ago,” said Frink.

Because they help students through academics, the staff at the Learning Commons often get into examining the future.

“We pretty much see every student at Guilford before they graduate,” said Frink.

Sometimes, Frink said, students find themselves struggling through the introductory class in their major. They learn that their motivation and skill-set don’t match their original goal, and they find new goals that fit.

You don’t have to figure out the next step by yourself. Just start where you are. If you are in Founders, go downstairs to the Community and Career Center. If you’re on your way to the library, head upstairs to the Learning Commons.