By Crystal Betz
Daily Bruin Contributor
Erik Elorriaga, a fourth-year economics and psychology student
will leave the country after graduation for New Zealand to become a
snowboarding instructor, pursuing a career in the sport he
loves.
Elorriaga was one of many students who attended the Student
Alumni Association’s Senior Day event in Westwood Plaza
““ and also one of many students who will be around the globe
after graduation.
Three senior French exchange students gathered at a table
Thursday, enjoying their free lunch.
“After graduation I’m going to grad school in France
to study marketing,” said Astrid Bureau, a fourth-year
business economics student. “I don’t want to leave, but
I have to.”
Bureau’s friends, Barbara Satre, an international
economics student, and Emile Constable, a business economics
student, also plan to continue their studies at a graduate school
in France next year.
Due to the currently low demand in the job market, graduating
students across the country are looking to graduate school in
higher numbers.
But some graduating students are testing the market and, like
fourth-year mechanical engineering student Brad Hirasuna, have
decided to enter directly into the labor force.
“I had an internship with Raytheon doing structural
analysis, and I’m just going to continue there,”
Hirasuna said.
The same goes for Alexandra Markovich, a fourth-year
international economics student.
“I’m going to be working at Pricewaterhouse in San
Jose doing accounting,” Markovich said. “I interviewed
with them in the fall and got an offer.”
SAA puts on Senior Day in both the fall and winter quarters,
providing a social atmosphere with blaring music, free food and the
chance to socialize with fellow senior classmates.
“We really want people to know about the resources they
have and what the Alumni Center has to offer them after
graduation,” said Ryan Tracy, a fourth-year political science
student and executive director of the SAA senior class cabinet.
Among the vendors offering information to students about
graduation and how to stay connected to UCLA were Kaplan Testing
Preparation, Graduation Etc., and UCLA gradpak, offered through the
Alumni Association. The gradpak offers seniors information about
job placement programs and career posting boards.
Another vendor at the event was the senior class gift table.
This year, the senior gift will either be a renovation of the Bomb
Shelter or an expansion of the Wooden Center, Tracy said.
All seniors at the event had the opportunity to give their input
for which class gift they preferred.