Our Campus Celebrity this week is one of Her Campus Bentley’s most recent alumni, Jillian Bouchard! She has accomplished a lot since graduation (she has a full-time job, a new apartment, is dating a Campus Cutie, etc.), so we thought we’d see what information she could pass along to all of us seniors rapidly approaching graduation.
What have you been doing since graduation?
Working in Property Management as a Sales, Marketing & Service Associate. Hanging out with my much-missed Bentley friends on any weekend I get off (that’s Property Management!) Also, killing it with the crockpot recipes with my roommates, something I recommend every post-grad to purchase! (Help me, I sound old)
What do you feel is the biggest change in your life since you entered the working world?
Definitely the biggest shock was not having the same flexibility with your schedule as I did in college. At school, it was easy to cruise over to wagon wheel with your roommates between classes and decide your schedule around days you wanted off. Life now is determining that those 8:30 am classes weren’t as bad as we thought they were… However, also the greatest change was that we now have more funds to be able to do those things that we always wanted to do in college but never really could! For example, one of my roommates and I took a day off in the middle of the week to go to Salem during Halloween time. At school I definitely wouldn’t have had the funds to spend on four different witch museums and a witch hat, “just because.” Post-grad life has definitely opened my life to new experiences!
Has the experience of being in Her Campus helped you in your post-grad life?
Definitely! I always talk about Her Campus at work and I’m pretty sure they think I’ve made it up at this point because I make it sound too good to be true. Her Campus helped me find my individuality and creativity in order to apply it every day in the work force. Also, I definitely find myself everyday seeing things and thinking “hmm… I wish I had written an HC article about that!”
What do you think is the most difficult part about no longer being at Bentley?
Hands down not being around your friends all the time. At school all of your friends were right there! First of all, you would know exactly when all of your roommates got back from classes and you always knew what friends had the same free time as you. While this made it hard to get work done, you always had someone to play with. For my job I have random days off during the week and I just watch the Bentley shuttle drive by my apartment and wait for my friends to get out of work. Kind of the same feeling as waiting for everyone to get out of that Thursday night bomb (that you told them not to take) right before Skell, except now multiply that by like 9 hours of being antsy.
What is the best advice you have for all of us right in the middle of our senior year, about to enter the real world?
DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED. Never stay in. Never miss an opportunity to just hang out with your friends. Do something you’ve always wanted to do on campus but never have. Go somewhere you’ve always wanted to go. Love those Bentley school busses that bring you into Boston every weekend because people on the T aren’t exactly as amped to party at Jose Macs like you are. Appreciate every single person you have ever had even the slightest friendship with on campus because even those people who you only hung out with a select amount of times you’re going to miss when you’re not at Bentley anymore. Oh, and remember to live Spring Day 2014 to the fullest for me because I CAN’T GO.