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"Graduations and occasions of this nature are not only wonderful times to celebrate, they are also critical watershed moments in our lives when we take stock of how much we have accomplished, how far we still have to go before we are even close to achieving our overall goals, and most importantly, how fleeting is the time in which we have to do it."
Phew. While the Drupal 5 feature freeze craze was getting closer and closer, in the meantime, I needed to take a few final exams and defend my thesis at the Taraz University of Technology and Environmental Protection (the fantastic photo of the building).
Finally I graduated after five years at the university (Hey, Guys (Gani, Eldar, Erlan, Kostya, Kanat, Samat i tec...) from Taraz State University, click me, here is what you all have asked me about-some photos on this event) , especially to the relief of my parents, who at times thought that I would never make it. This means that as of 7th of July, 2007, I have an MsC in Health Safety and Environmental Protection technologies (this is the official name, although I'd rather call it Safety Engineer).
To be honest, it was not an easy ride. I started university while already being neck-deep in the PHP community. Have been lead of the PHP.net website team and most notably the documentation team for years throughout being at the university. Contributing to the PHP community was both a delighting experience and a great opportunity to learn. I held session at several international PHP conferences, co-organized several big (2-300 attendees) PHP conferences in Karateu, technical-edited the first Karatau PHP book (which is a funny read looking back), translated a big chunk of the PHP documentation to kazakh and tought HTML/PHP/XML, web security, even web services courses in a private school. It was crazy to start to teach web technologies with a company that just started to experiment with the topic myself being their sole teacher in the field in 1999.
After all the late night partying of university, what is the one major hang over that most students are complaining about when its all over and they've graduated? The answer is student debt. Student debt levels continue to rise every year as banks and other lenders throw more and more credit their way while they are still studying. It seems as if the banks have plenty of faith in graduates being able to pay back the loans, and most graduates would confirm this. What is causing graduates stress is not toe overall levels of debt they have racked up while studying, which still averages under $1,000-2000, but the fact that they have to pay such a high proportion of their new wages in debt servicing.
After graduation, you'll probably start to hear the following sayings from family and friends: Your life begins now?, The world is your oyster?, You are beginning a new chapter in your book of life? Although these sayings may seem intimidating, they also mean that some exciting times are ahead.
First things first ? take a deep breath and give yourself a pat on the back. It took brains, time and effort to finish your program, no matter how much you did or didn't party. You're finished now. Congratulations.
Since you can remember, September has meant returning to a place where you do work and get grades. But this year, graduation means that job hunting is on the agenda. This September, if all goes well, you'll be getting a paycheque instead of a B+. It sounds simple enough, but this transition is one of the biggest you'll face in your life. It will take time to adjust, so don't be too hard on yourself.
What job should I start with?
If you're not sure what you're looking for yet, you could start at bolashak.com or job.kz (see Related Links on the right side of the page). Their career planning and assessment tools will help you discover your interests, which are key to a rewarding career match.
Find your own priorities
Do what you feel is important to you. Now that you've finished school, your decisions can begin to reflect your own life directions. It's not easy to be carefree when you have loans, but you can always prioritize your goals.
If you need inspiration, or consolation, rent The Graduate. In the movie, Dustin Hoffman returns from college without the slightest idea what he'll do next. In his post-scholastic escapades, he ends up getting himself into way more trouble than you probably will. But he also has a lot of fun.
Good luck!
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