Rigorous application processes. Waiting around for job offers. Making new living arrangements.

Ask any graduating senior at Elon and they will say they’ve dealt with all this and more when making plans for what they’re going to do after leaving college this May.

But for four of these seniors, their post-graduation to-do list includes something substantially larger and even a bit frightening – preparing to move to another country all together.

“Right now, globalization is everywhere, so it’s good to find a job offer abroad,” said senior Hiroshi Wada, who will be working for Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company in Japan, after he graduates.

Not only are the economic aspects beneficial, but working internationally often entails doing something worthwhile to achieve the coveted status of “global citizen,” a term Elon promotes regularly through on-campus programs and lectures.

“My goal is to find something that I can be passionate about and bring it back over here (to the United States) in future endeavors,” said senior Gayla Carr, who will be moving to Italy to teach English to children.

And though they may have a general goal in mind for moving to a different country, these students can all agree on one thing: They have no idea what to expect.

Life decisions on a whim

Brett Brawerman: Peace Corps in Moldova

As the creator of his own independent major, sports and health business, senior Brett Brawerman always thought he would be working in sports marketing after he graduated.

When he heard that a friend of his had applied for the Peace Corps, Brawerman didn’t think much of it. But after doing some research, he found that the program suited him perfectly, and he was accepted into the Peace Corps after a difficult nine-month application process.

“I found that (post-graduation) would probably be the perfect time to get away and do something completely different from normal,” he said.

Brawerman will be stationed in Moldova, an Eastern European state located between Ukraine and Romania, as a volunteer with the Youth & Community Development sector. He leaves on June 6, only two weeks after he graduates college.

“I’m anxious and scared because it’s so different,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll have running water, and I definitely know I won’t have a cell phone, which stinks because I love my cell phone.”

Brawerman’s specific role will be a health promotion and community specialist, which means he’ll be teaching health classes in Romania, giving presentations to community clinics and promoting all-round healthier decisions. But his job will probably include much more.

“The best thing about the Peace Corps is I’ll most likely be doing a little bit of everything, but I really don’t know exactly what I’ll be doing,” he said.

Gayla Carr: LanguageWorks in Italy

Gayla Carr had a similar luck-of-the-draw experience with her job decision. Her teaching position in Italy was the result of applying on a whim to LanguageWorks, Inc., an international company that aims to promote global communication through education.

She’d also been offered a position with Teach Charlotte in her home state of North Carolina at the time she was hired by LanguageWorks, so Carr was faced with a choice.

“I had to make a huge decision between whether I wanted to stay in North Carolina or move to a whole new country,” Carr said. “It was a really big step. But the people I talked to (at LanguageWorks) were so nice and reassuring. They send me helpful information nonstop, so they definitely made the process a lot easier.”

Like Brawerman, Carr will move abroad immediately after graduation so she can start classes to become certified to teach English anywhere in the world. And though she knows what her position entails, Carr has never been to another country before, so she’s open to new experiences.

“I chose to go to Italy because I thought it would be less of a culture shock than going to Asia or Latin America,” she said. “I don’t know what kind of opportunities I’ll have until I get there, which is exciting and kind of scary.”

Achievement through concrete plans

Cedric Pulliam: Various programs in Europe and Africa 

While Brawerman and Carr’s decisions were partially based on chance, senior Cedric Pulliam’s post-graduation plans were strategically planned, as Pulliam will be traveling around the world nonstop for a year and a half.

Pulliam has not only been offered a summer internship to teach English to students in Barcelona, Spain, he’s also received a full fellowship to attend a one-year graduate school program in Budapest, Hungary to study international relations and European studies.

But his plans don’t stop there. After he graduates the program in June 2013, he’ll be pursuing a research grant funded through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This means Pulliam will be conducting research in nations all over Europe and Africa, including Egypt, Tanzania, Ethiopia and more.

“It’s going to be an empowering experience for me,” he said. “I want to focus on the empowerment of refugees because I believe their rights are not being upheld. I want to dispel my scholarship so that justice can be served, and that’s why I’m pursuing these great opportunities.”

Still, deciding on these opportunities didn’t come easily to Pulliam, who got into 16 of 17 graduate schools he applied to as well as four of six fellowship programs. He said he couldn’t have made such tough decisions without the help of his family, friends and mentors at Elon, and he wants to be sure to give back everything he’s learned from them during his travels.

“I’m grateful that I’ve been bestowed with selfless knowledge through these benefactors,” he said. “All of the knowledge, the networks, the contacts – I want to share the wealth of knowledge to others. I want to be there to help them do what I did and do better.”

Hiroshi Wada: Pfizer in Japan

Hiroshi Wada also has unique opportunities coming up for him, especially since he’ll be graduating from two universities at once before beginning his work at Pfizer.

Originally from Japan, Wada enrolled at Kansai Gaidai University in 2008 as a foreign language major and finished the four-year program in two years. As a result, he was able to study abroad at Elon as a marketing major for two years and finish up his four years in college with enough credits for both programs, so he’ll be receiving a degree from each university.

Additionally, Wada’s experience in the United States will come in handy for working at Pfizer, since not many people in Japan can speak English, he said. He also said that spending time in other countries in general can be really helpful, particularly for Elon students.

“International experiences are huge, especially since Elon doesn’t have that much diversity,” he said. “I worked for the

Chinese government this past summer, and when I told Pfizer about that, I was automatically hired. Just one experience can help you significantly.”

In the meantime, Wada is excited to use the business skills he’s learned at Elon to work in sales and negotiations at Pfizer. He’ll not only be doing work related to his major, but he’ll also be working with medical professionals in his ideal type of work atmosphere.

“You actually see people, since sales involves meeting people every day,” Wada said. “I wanted to do something professional and more upscale, and Pfizer is allowing me to do that.”

Preparing for a new experience

Though these seniors are more than excited to be living abroad, that doesn’t mean they’re completely comfortable with the idea yet, especially due to inevitable language barriers.

“I’ll be completely lost at first because of the language barrier (in Moldova),” Brawerman said. “But my favorite thing about myself is that I just can’t feel awkwardness, so I won’t be afraid to talk to people, even though I may not speak their language.”

Not only is language a potential issue, but also the fact that most of the students are moving to countries they’ve never visited before. Luckily for Pulliam, he’s been to Spain and knows what to expect if he decides to accept the internship in Barcelona. But going to graduate school in Hungary will be a whole new experience.

“I’ve never been to Budapest, but I know it will be cold, so I’ll definitely be purchasing a new winter coat,” Pulliam said. “I’m going to take advantage of everything I can – even though I’ll be very cold.”

Though Carr’s move to Italy will serve as her first time abroad, she has family members who recently moved to Malaysia, and their smooth transition into living in a different country has helped calm her nerves.

“They’ve adjusted really well and have nice neighbors, so I guess seeing people I’ve known my whole life get accustomed to the culture so well has put me at ease,” Carr said. “I mean, I came to Elon not knowing anyone, so I figured if I can do it for college then I can do it for the real world.”

As far as making plans for entering the ‘real world,’ Carr thinks it’s not always mandatory to have concrete plans, nor do you have to do what you originally intended to do when you came to Elon. Carr said she always thought she was going to major in political science and go to law school, but she ended up majoring in psychology and accepting the teaching position in Italy instead.

“I wanted to take time off from school to slow down and enjoy being in my early 20s and living,” she said. “And sometimes you can find something in the least expected ways. I never expected to be moving abroad, so I think you can find something that suits you in the end.”

And for Brawerman, he believes students sometimes put too much emphasis on having a plan and end up accepting jobs they don’t truly want. His biggest piece of advice for ensuring happiness after graduation is to never settle, and to make sure to do something only if you’re guaranteed to be completely content with it.

“Just because our four years are coming to an end and just because we’ve worked hard for four years, why stop now?” he said. “We should continue to have fun and work hard no matter what we’re doing.”