To graduate in 3 years

At most colleges in the US (UCSB included), most students graduate in about 4 years; however, the range oftentimes varies in the amount of time taken to complete college. Myself and many others in the Jewish community here at UCSB ended up graduating in only three years. The decision to have an early graduation has many advantages, disadvantages, and emotions attached, so I made the decision to both share my experience and to interview several members of the Jewish community to provide people’s reasoning for graduating early, their hopes, fears, and advice for students wanting to graduate in three years.

Graduating from college and moving on to greater things is an emotionally loaded topic for practically everybody, but this is especially true for those who have one fewer year to experience at college. For me, personally, it is very bittersweet, as I’m excited to move into the real world and happy with all the money I saved, but would have liked another year worth of college memories and another year to spend with my friends. Jewish community member Daniela informed me that she shared this sentiment, as while she is excited to move back to her hometown of San Diego, she ultimately feels saddened that she is going to be leaving some of her best friends and will no longer be living next door to them. She also reminisced about UCSB Chabad, and how she feels sad that she won’t be able to spend time with Miri and the kids anymore. Another pillar of the Jewish community, Leah, shared that although she felt sad leaving, since she had grad school, she isn’t quite moving on to the “real world” just yet, and she’s sure that ultimately this is the correct move for her.

Another member of the community and Chabad campus liaison Jake shared that while he is excited to move on to greater things, he feels weird about not graduating with (most of) the same people he started school with.An important facet of graduating early is that it has many strategic advantages, such as getting into the workforce earlier, and saving money. Personally, I wanted to save money, and have hated academics my entire life, so graduating a year early fulfilled my dreams that I’ve had for the last

decade plus of skipping a grade (I asked my parents so many times as a kid and they told me I wasn’t allowed). Daniela told me that she decided to graduate early during fall quarter because she was going to have finished all of her classes, and therefore did not have any sensible reason to stay in Isla Vista afterwards, and she gets an extra year head start in the workforce by

graduating early. Both Jake and Chabad events board member Keren had similar stories, that they both had the idea when they realized that they were on track to graduate in three instead of four years, and it made more financial sense to graduate early than to experience college for four whole years.

Graduating early has its advantages and disadvantages, but one thing for certain is that it is pretty difficult to do so. I was able to do so because I came in with slightly less than a year’s worth of credits, and put in a tiny extra effort to graduate a bit earlier and get decent grades, and I decided to ask everybody for their advice for anybody who is planning on an early graduation. Keren

suggested that you should always be on top of things, and that taking summer classes is a huge help and it is worth it to be in IV over the summer. Daniela also mentioned to not sacrifice internships and networking opportunities for extra classes, as ultimately those will be what get you into your profession in the future. Jake recommended that whenever you are taking GE classes, always take those that fulfill multiple requirements, and Leah discussed the importance of talking to your advisor, as they can help you create an in depth plan for graduation.

Ending college a year early means that you enter the “real world” a year earlier too, so it is important to make sure that one has their plans ready before graduating. Personally, I am going to get a Masters of Science in Data Science from UT Austin’s online masters program so that hopefully I can concurrently have a job, and I wanted to see what my fellow 3rd year graduates

had in store. Leah told me that she is going to be working remotely for a law firm and then applying to law school, which sounds very exciting. Keeping up with the law theme, Jake is going to be going up to Nor Cal, attending law at UCSF. As previously mentioned, Daniela is going to be moving home to San Diego, and looking for Marketing and Sales jobs both there and in OC. Keren is choosing to spend next year traveling and backpacking, hoping to get a “hopefully-relevant-to-[her]-major job” and apply to grad school.

With many reasons for graduating, and many plans for the future, it will be both exciting to see what is in store for our soon-to-be graduates and is sad to wave them goodbye. Having been alongside all of these students from the start to now, I can truly see how valuable each and every one was to the Jewish community, how much they will be missed, and how much their presence will be appreciated wherever life takes them in the future. Good luck to all the graduates, third year and beyond!