As seniors finish their final semester, they are forced to look toward the real, sometimes intimidating world after college.
To help ease the transition, the Senior Class Council is hosting "What's Next Wednesdays," a series of seminars co-sponsored by the Alumni Association, the Annual Fund, Career Center and Center for Social Concerns.
The Senior Class Council hosts several senior-specific events throughout the year, senior class president Bridget Keating said.
"We're hoping to celebrate our last year together and look ahead and prepare for life beyond Notre Dame," she said.
The series, which will be held the next four academic Wednesdays at 5 p.m. in the LaFortune Ballroom, will feature the following topics: "Staying Out of the Red: Personal Budgeting," "Beyond the First Job: Developing a Career Plan," "Real Estate in the Real World: Finding Your First Place" and "Turning Paychecks into Nest Eggs: Investing for the Long-term."
The Senior Class Council and the Career Center have collaborated in the past to host senior transition seminars, Keating said. At the start of the 2007 academic year, however, they decided to collaborate with the Alumni Association, Annual Fund and Center for Social Concerns.
"We saw an alignment of interests among our co-sponsors," Keating said, "so we looked to expand this program for seniors and bring as many resources to the table as possible."
To determine which topics are most pressing to seniors, the Senior Class Council "sent out a survey in the fall semester to gauge interest in various events to see what we could offer to seniors to make our last year the best possible," Keating said.
"When we suggested senior transition seminars, these topics generated great interest and students really wanted to hear about real world issues they'll be facing in a few months."
The seminars, whose themes were discussed and agreed upon by each of the sponsoring organizations, will feature guest speakers ranging from Notre Dame professors to local experts, Keating said.
The upcoming seminar on personal budgeting will be relatively "hands on," Keating said. "It will definitely be an open, casual forum with the speaker presenting his or her material and then plenty of room for questions and answers."
Food and prizes will be offered at each of the four seminars. Students will be entered in a lottery for a pair of tickets to the first home football game of the 2008 season for each seminar they attend.
"We're excited about the collaboration and serving the senior class," Keating said. Although the topics are geared toward seniors, they are open to all students.
