Editorial: Students should seek opportunities to work in Roanoke
Businesses are hoping to attract more college-age graduates to a region that is typically made up of an older demographic of residents. Through trips to Roanoke, students are able to gauge the prospects available to them in the city.
More students should take advantage of the employment opportunities in Roanoke. The city is an excellent place to begin a student's journey to the real world.
As high-achieving college students, we tend to have the expectation that upon graduating we'll snag a great job in a huge city such as New York, Los Angeles, or Washington, D.C. However, no communication major is going to become Katie Couric immediately and no computer science major is going to create the next Microsoft within a year of graduating.
Realistically, most of us are going to have to start small and work our way up to lucrative, big-time employment, and Roanoke is a great place to begin.
Roanoke is not a booming, metropolitan city, but it doesn't lack opportunities. Plenty of jobs are available as the Roanoke businesses are encouraging younger people to move there. A job in Roanoke could be the stepping stone to help you land a job with more responsibility and a bigger paycheck.
As far as towns go, Roanoke provides a lot for a decent standard of living. It's relatively safe and is in close vicinity to the New River. For the devoted Tech alumni, Roanoke is a short drive to your alma mater, the perfect distance to drive back for football games, concerts and friends still at Tech.
We wouldn't go to Tech if we weren't drawn to some aspect of the area, so assimilating to the real world could be easier if we began a career where we've lived the past few years of our life.
Cities like Richmond and Washington, D.C. are within a few hours' drive, so it's not like a night or weekend in the big city is impossible. The vicinity to such cities is also convenient for job searching in the event that you decide you do want to move on from Roanoke.
The stigma that Roanoke has for being an "old" city has the ability to disappear, but it can't vanish unless students take advantage of the options in the city.
As students take jobs and begin to live in Roanoke, more students will follow, and this pattern can turn Roanoke into a city led by younger generations. As Tech students, we have the chance to take advantage of Roanoke before most schools.
If you are finishing earning your undergraduate or graduate degree with minimal job offers, take a look at what Roanoke has to offer you in your field. Considering how much the New River Valley region has shaped our years at Tech, we could use our talents developed at college to give back, and start a career at the same time.
The editorial board is composed of Amie Steele, Joe Kendall, Saira Haider, Laurel Colella and Sara Mitchell.
