Voices
BOBBY
FONG
HUFFINGTON
07.22.12
Don’t
Miss the
College
Forest for
the Career
Trees
NOW THAT THE members of the
college graduating class of 2016
are out of high school, what can
we say to them as they anxiously
await the next step in their educational journey?
As I told a group of students at
an orientation this past June: Although most of you want to master
the skills that will enable you to
get jobs, career preparation is only
one piece of the college experience.
A college may not always be
ILLUSTRATION BY MATTHEW HOLLISTER
able to anticipate what technical skills students will need ten
years from now. Thirty percent of
you will one day work in jobs that
don’t yet exist. Studies show that
nationally, 60 percent of students
graduate in majors different from
those in which they began. Your
generation will change careers
seven times over a lifetime.
College, particularly a liberal
arts college, seeks to cultivate
Bobby Fong
is president
of Ursinus
College