Graduates taking positions around country, world

With graduation upon us, college students who previously found themselves wondering "Chinese food or pizza?" or "Should I go out to the bars or stay in and study?" find themselves faced with a terrifying, new set of questions.\n"What do I do now?"\n"Where do I go?"\n"What do I want to do with my life?"\nSome students are still pursuing dreams they had before setting foot at IU, while others spent their college careers crafting different types of dreams. Regardless of their vision, IU students who spent the last four years sharing a life in Bloomington are now headed in numerous, sprawling directions. \nPublic affairs management major Eileen Johnson, who will be serving as an aircraft maintenance officer in Tucson, Ariz. next fall, said it took her several years at college to decide she wanted to join the Air Force. \n"I'm actually a Navy brat, so I come from a very strong military background, but I didn't realize I wanted to do it until my sophomore year of college," she said. "I was at a doctor's appointment on an Air Force base, and I just thought it'd be really interesting to do it myself. It just kind of hit me. I guess it was hard to explain. I just went with it." \nJohnson said her decision had very little to do with money or location. \n"I chose it because it looked the most appealing to me and it sounded like the most challenging," she said. "I like to be in the action and this is designed so that you're definitely in the action. I've never been to Arizona, so I'm excited to go to a new place." \nFor Telecommunications major Alex Yang, however, the best way to move beyond college is to stay exactly where he is. \nGuitarist for a Bloomington-based band, The Driving Force, Yang said he plans on staying in Bloomington to practice for an upcoming tour. How long he stays in town and where he eventually ends up all depends on the success of their record, which will be released in June by Winedark/Universal records, Yang said. \n"Some of the members of the band are still in school and the plan was for them to finish up, but chances are we can't do that because we have a record coming out," Yang said. "We have to invest a lot of time into this. Touring is going to be weeks and months on the road. It's going to be a big change." \nAlthough Yang's current situation was unexpected, the guitarist said he knew what he wanted to do with his life long before coming to college. \n"I knew it was what I wanted to do. It was just one of those feelings," he said. \nWhen Yang graduates Saturday, he said his experience at IU will have amounted to much more than receiving an education.\n"What I'm hoping I'm about to do is exactly what I've always imagined, and I think education was just a backseat for me," he said. \nBusiness major Sagar Desai's career path has always been a little more clear-cut. \n"I always knew I wanted to go into business and that's why right off the bat I chose business as a major and stuck with it," Desai said. \nAfter working in Old Navy and Banana Republic stores, which are owned by Gap Inc., Desai said he knew he loved the company. Desai, who also "wanted to live somewhere warm," found the perfect career when he was offered a job with Gap Inc. in San Francisco, Calif. He is among 4 percent of surveyed business students who will head out West upon graduation.\n"I love retail, I love the clothes and I wanted to be with Gap," Desai said. "But being in California was also a part of the decision." \nFrench and Italian major Roman Teller decided to head east after graduation. Really far east. \n"In the fall I leave for France, where I'll be teaching English in an elementary school for the academic year," he said. \nTeller, who had long hoped to move to Europe or Africa to teach English, said the opportunity was perfect for him for a number of reasons.\n"It involves foreign languages, travel, education, working with children and it kind of embodies everything I wanted to do," he said. "It's a great stepping stone to other endeavors, on an international scale." \nWhile 29 percent of students surveyed by the undergraduate career services of the business school said they were staying in Indiana and 46 percent said they were moving elsewhere in the Midwest, Teller said he is excited to move far from where he started. \n"A lot of times people graduate and they end up going to their home town, so I see this as the best opportunity to get out right away to travel the globe and contribute what I have to offer to the world," Teller said. \nSome students, however, have grown up in an area they always want to call home. Business major Michael Eizenga, who recently accepted a job working as a commercial real estate broker in his hometown Chicago. Eizenga said his decision was made on a professional, rather than personal, level. \n"In real estate you really have to know your market, and having grown up there pretty much all of my life, I feel comfortable moving back," he said. "I had job offers in other cities, but right away I narrowed it down to the ones in Chicago."\nAlthough Eizenga hopes his intimate knowledge of the city will provide him with a professional edge, he said there are other advantages to returning home. \n"Being comfortable in an area makes the transition to the real world a lot easier," Eizenga said. \n-- Contact Staff Writer Hannah Lodge at hjlodge@indiana.edu.