ASHLAND — Abigail Sanders is in the midst of a major life transition.
A 2024 grad of Ashland University, Sanders started her first teaching job at West Holmes High School at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year. She is learning that working full-time comes with challenges — both inside and outside the classroom.
“You don’t know what you don’t know, but you find out very quickly,” Sanders said.
Sanders has taken on the task of teaching three subjects she never taught during her student teaching. Finding a rhythm and developing lesson plans for her students proved a challenge at first.
As one of the newest teachers on staff, Sanders has also had to practice self-advocacy, speaking up when she doesn’t understand something or asking more experienced colleagues for help.
In her off time, Sanders is understanding what it means to work full-time. She lives with her parents, but is actively hunting for her first home.
She has been finding new ways to get involved in her community outside of college, namely by joining a church.
Sanders isn’t alone in the struggles she’s faced finding a rhythm or managing learning curves of building relationships and practice self-advocacy in a job.
A report from the JED Foundation states there isn’t much data available on the well-being of recent college grads. But, according to the organization’s survey of 1,008 recent grads, about 45% report the transition was difficult.
For students in the midst of that transition, there are places to turn to for help.
Finding life’s calling
One resource Sanders used at Ashland Univeresity was the school’s Career Center for Life Calling.
AU established the center to “empower students to successfully navigate their career-life journey through relationship building and skill development.”
You don’t know what you don’t know, but you find out very quickly.
Abigail Sanders, AU grad and first-year teacher
Academic advisors play an important role in helping college students navigate their way through school.
Academic advising is required for all students while on campus. It helps them get into the right courses once they’ve determined their pathway, and ensure they can access resources they may need, according to Kristina Cunningham, the assistant director of academic advising.
The Career Center for Life Calling takes things a step further, helping them navigate what they want after their degree is finished. The Center aims to help students understand exactly what options are out there, how those options align with their goals and how to land a first job.
All of those things can be challenging for students to determine. There’s a lot of noise for them to wade through, said Zachary McGrain, who directs AU’s Career Center for Life Calling.
In response, universities in north central Ohio have developed resources dedicated to helping students get through the noise and ask the right questions.
At AU, that’s the Career Center for Life Calling. It was founded in 2020.
North Central State College, too, has Career Development Services. Students can visit with Ashley Hedrick, who serves as a career pathway and internship coordinator at the school.
“We could all sit here and talk about our life’s calling, and it’s a pretty overwhelming topic at times,” McGrain said. “So we really try to start to address that conversation early and often throughout a student’s career.”
Questions worth asking
McGrain said when he’s advising students and helping them determine their pathways, it often comes down to a matter of three simple questions:
- What are you interested in?
- What are you skilled at?
- What are your values?
Answering those questions isn’t all it takes to find a job or career. Students don’t necessarily have control when they’re searching for a job, McGrain said. Positions might not be available exactly where they want to work, and a first job might not be the perfect role off the bat.
But knowing their values and goals can help students wade through a job field with an often-overwhelming number of options.
How do these services work?
Hedrick and McGrain described holding individual meetings with students throughout their university experience.
We really want to start the conversation of what does success mean to you?
Zachary McGrain, director of AU’s Career Center for Life calling
They begin with helping students discern their interests and what careers might pair well with those.
Then it becomes a matter of helping them build a resume and cover letter, and prepping them for interviews so they can land internships or jobs.
Both offices also have career closets where students can borrow professional clothing to use as needed.
NCSC’s Career Development Services and AU’s Career Center for Life Calling both said one of the biggest challenges they’ve faced is spreading the word about the resources’ existence.
At AU, McGrain said organizers are starting to find some success promoting the center.
Some athletic teams, like women’s basketball, require all their students to visit the Career Center for Life Calling. They’ve seen 1,500 students this year, some of them returning multiple times. McGrain said the center has engaged with students a total of 4,100 times since July 1, 2024.
Career coaches see more upperclassmen than underclassmen, but they’re working to do more outreach to younger students.
“We really want to start the conversation of what does success mean to you?” McGrain said. “Because success, yes, could be a title, salary, a position.
“It also could be family, faith, community — whatever variables they possess to make them who they are.”
Hedrick said at NCSC, some students directly seek her out, but more often, they’re referred to her by advisors or faculty members. Sometimes she has to hound students to meet with her, but when they do, they often find the experience helpful.
For Hedrick, the experience of not knowing where your path will lead is a familiar one.
When she graduated from The Ohio State University, Hedrick earned a degree in wildlife and natural resources. But she had a hard time landing a full-time job in that career field, and didn’t want to leave Ohio to find a job.
Instead, she ended up working in human resources and recruiting. She discovered a new passion in that job — a passion for helping others land their dream jobs. It led to her current position.
Hedrick said she often shares her story with students, as it offers an example of how following one’s passions can lead to career goals. She hopes students who visit her office leave equipped to pursue their passions and use that as a career springboard, too.
Both Hedrick and McGrain reported that anecdotally, students who utilize their services seem to be set up for success stepping into their first professional jobs.
“I think the biggest advantage is just building confidence in themselves,” Hedrick said.
Use your resources
Madalynn Aumend graduated from Ashland University in December. The recent graduate student taught at Mapleton during her last two semesters.
Aumend described herself as an involved college student. She led the Aspiring Educators club, twirled baton for the concert band and played club soccer. She feels grateful for the opportunities she had, but finished college feeling a little burned out.
“I was really, really fortunate in that when I finished student teaching, the school that I was student teaching at let me stay on,” Aumend said.
“So, in-between my weird transition of half-year graduation, I didn’t have to worry about doing interviews at a bunch of different school districts. I didn’t have to worry about finding some sub license or anything like that.”
Taking a semester to gain some experience in her chosen field before applying to a more-permanent job has been a good option for her. She is finishing out the year as an intervention tutor at Mapleton Local Schools.
Like Sanders, Aumend is living at home as she determines her next steps and adjusts to working full time. She’s learning how to juggle hobbies with work.
She recently ran a half marathon with her sister, has begun reading for fun and is trying to maintain friendships without being in classes with her friends each day.
A Crestview grad, she hopes to remain in the area, and has started her search for a permanent position as a middle school teacher.
Aumend stayed in touch with Ashland University and the network she developed there as she embarked on her job search.
She worked at the Career Center for Life Calling and leaned on faculty advisors and academic advisors as a student. It felt natural for her to continue seeking out those mentors for help with finding the right position.
“They were always like, ‘If you ever need anything Maddie, you just come back and ask,'” Aumend said.
She said their willingness to continue the mentorship they gave her in college has been helpful as she looks for a job.
Catherine Williams, AU’s assistant provost of student success, said leaning on the network built in college is important for recent grads.
Even though graduation marks an end in a way, she said the university, its alumni network and its resources remain open for alumni to access.
Life transitions can be challenging at all ages, but they can also be rich with meaning and opportunities for growth.
Join us on May 1st at the Renaissance Theatre to continue a conversation around thriving through life’s transitions with author, therapist, coach and speaker Sarah Brokaw.