With new businesses arising in Brookings, SDSU students are finding that along with their services will be more job opportunities.

Joining Super 8 and Fairfield Inn in the growing business development east of Interstate 29 will be a new Holiday Inn Express. A specific opening date has not been set but according to its manager, Don Buboltz, it will be sometime in the middle of April.

“There are some minor construction issues that are a bit behind schedule but we plan to be open very soon,” said Buboltz.

Buboltz, the former manager of Super 8, has been accepting applications for a while now. He has not conducted any interviews yet so he said all of the positions are still available.

Whether students are looking for simply a full time or part time job, Holiday Inn Express is willing to be flexible around class schedules. Some of the job positions available are housekeepers, front desk clerks, and breakfast bar attendants.

Applebee’s, located just across the road from the future Holiday Inn Express, is another new business where many students are employed.

A month before its opening date of Jan. 14, most of the staff had been selected.

The employees had to go through a week long training for their positions.

Todd Schriever, director of operations at the Brookings Applebee’s, said, “We wanted a mix of both students and non-students. We currently seem to be well staffed so we don’t plan on hiring anyone else in the near future.”

When the new Applebee’s craze came to town, it forced guests to wait nearly an hour to just be seated. Now that it has been open for a few months, that waiting period is finally becoming shorter for most guests.

One of the larger businesses in town will be constructing a new store over the next several months. The new Wal-Mart Super Center’s opening date is scheduled for sometime in October. The moving will be done overnight so the store can remain open during normal hours.

With the store expanding dramatically, there will be a need for more employees.

A Wal-Mart associate said they will first decide which department their current employees will work in.

To apply for a job at Wal-Mart, a computerized application can be completed near the layaway desk in the back of the store. If students are wanting a job at the upcoming Super Wal-Mart, this process will not be necessary until late summer.

Finding a job in Brookings is usually difficult when there are thousands of other students wanting to do the same thing. Although, with the new and improved businesses in town, this process may be a bit less stressful.

Whether you are a freshman or fifth year senior, somewhere in your mind is the thought of life after graduation.

Many students are anxious to get out of school and into the working world. They are sick of homework, professors and possibly even their roommates.

In their opinion, it is time to move on.

On the other hand, many people fear what is to come once they walk across the stage in Frost Arena.

Will I have a job?

Will I have to move far away?

How much will it pay?

These are some of the questions racing through the minds of many college students.

Then there are those who are wondering if their major is really the one for them. Maybe they chose it as a freshman just to have something but now that it is their junior year, they may think it is too late to switch.

Three SDSU alumni, who all graduated last May, describe how they felt before and after graduating from college.

Heath Abraham, Darcy Andersen and Jen Burns went from nervous freshman to successful employees in a matter of a few years.

Heath Abraham

Heath Abraham, 23, graduated with a major in sociology and minors in criminal justice and military science. He now serves on the police department in Madison.

According to Abraham, the most beneficial part of college is the social skills a person learns. He thinks it gives you a chance to interact with different people and their beliefs.

“Yes, the classes are important too, but the skills you learn in between those classes will help you more in the long run,” Abraham said.

Abraham was not worried about finding a job after college. He knew there were available positions in the area. He researched before graduating to find all of his possibilities.

College graduates are typically known for obtaining a four-year degree but many people are going longer than that.

Abraham suggests that you stay in college as long as you can afford it. He believes the average tuition should be reduced.

“Take as many classes as you can. Pick up another minor or two. If it didn’t cost so much, I would tell everyone to attend college,” Abraham said.

Emotions of the graduating class vary just weeks before the ceremony.

Many students are excited to be done while others are sad to be leaving. Abraham, like many seniors, had mixed emotions about accepting his diploma.

“I was nervous yet happy to be graduating. Looking back, I wouldn’t have changed a thing about my college experience,” Abraham said.

Darcy Andersen

Darcy Andersen, 23, graduated with a major in Communications Studies and Theatre, emphasis in Radio, Television and Film. She also obtained a minor in Journalism during her four years at SDSU. She currently holds the duty of the morning producer at KELO in Sioux Falls.

While studying at SDSU, Andersen felt anxious to graduate and move on with her life. Now that she has, she wishes she could go back to college.

According to her, the lifestyle was very relaxed, you always had people to talk to and the responsibilities were minor.

Another thing that comes with leaving SDSU is leaving many friends.

Andersen still talks to most of her college friends but admits it is hard to keep close ties while having a full-time job.

“My advice would be to not hurry through school. You must make sure you’ve chosen something that you really enjoy doing,” Andersen said.

During her senior year, Andersen worked part time at KELO television station in Sioux Falls. After receiving her degree, she was hired as their morning producer.

Currently during the week, Andersen works from 12:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. gathering news stories, editing them and placing everything in order.

While attending college, Andersen was a bit worried of what was to come after leaving Brookings. She knew the job market did not contain many options, especially in her hometown area of Sioux Falls.

“I wanted to stay fairly close to home. In the beginning, I don’t think I could’ve made it without knowing that my family and friends were right there for support. They helped me get my feet out the door,” Andersen said.

Jen Burns

Jen Burns, 23, graduated last spring with a nursing major. She currently works as a registered nurse at Merit-Care Hospital in Fargo, N.D.

Her first two years at SDSU brought about many new friendships with not only the people in Brown Hall but also her fellow classmates. She always enjoyed the dorm life simply because if you were bored, all you had to do was walk down the hall and there was always someone around.

“For those of you in the dorms, enjoy it while you’re there. It’s when you make the strong friendships that you’ll be relying on when you move off campus,” Burns said.

Throughout the first two years, she did not think too much about finding a job after receiving her diploma, but once her third year came, she realized that soon enough she would be forced to enter the working world without any advisor to guide her.

It was then when Burns met her most inspiring professor at SDSU, Ruth Klawiter. She recalls how encouraging Klawiter was not only for her, but also for many of her classmates.

“Ruth was not only concerned about your education, but she also cared about your life outside of school. I could talk to her about anything and she was always there to listen and give her advice,” Burns said.

And often it’s that time outside of class hours that is the most relevant to a student’s life after graduation.

Keeping balanced in both academic and extracurricular realms, however, takes the kind of effort that can make a college career fly past.

“Now looking back on college, I can’t believe how fast it went by,” Burns said.

With actual temperatures dropping to nearly 20 below zero, it is forcing that common phrase out of people’s mouths, “Why do I live in South Dakota?”

South Dakota is one of the lucky states with drastic variations in temperature, ranging from 105 to -20 in possibly less than six months.

Our winter weather typically begins in November but we have been quite fortunate until just recently.

The average high temperature for this time of the year is about 25 degrees. If it were that warm out now, we would see those select students wearing sandals to class.

This is the season when our cars tend to play mind games on us. Is it not starting because it is too cold?

Or is there really something wrong with my car?

Having grown up in eastern Montana, SDSU sociology professor, Meredith Redlin knows what cold is. “You can tell it’s below zero because the snow is very loud when you walk on it,” said Redlin.

As long as the ground is covered with that loud snow, the temperatures will remain rather low.

So are these breathtaking wind chills normal for Brookings? Usually not but you must keep in mind one thing.

“We have just been spoiled with the nice winters for the past two or three years,” said Nick Rau, a senior majoring in Landscape Design

Shawn Cable, a meteorologist at KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, believes that even though we are experiencing well below normal temperatures, we need to remember this is winter in South Dakota.

“This cold spell has been bottled up in Canada for quite some time. We weren’t too sure when it would reach us but we knew it would be quite cold,” said Cable.

Even though our hands go numb in just a couple of minutes, we have not reached a record low out of this system.

The current record stands at -27 degrees.

Cable, a 1997 graduate of SDSU, said, “I can remember walking all the way across campus to Ag Hall for class. I really wish they had underground tunnels.”

While we will be walking above ground for quite some time, we await the coming of spring. As for now, it looks as though these frigid temperatures will start to increase by as soon as next week.