As spring quarter begins and summer approaches, the inevitable question arises with rapidly increasing frequency and with a greater sense of urgency.
If you are a senior, you understand. The clock is ticking, and the world is waiting. It goes like this:
“So … what are you doing next year?”
It’s sort of depressing, or at least bittersweet.
Because whatever plans lie in wait, it is likely life will never be quite as easy as the days we complained about the long trek to our 11 a.m. class or the pages of reading we were assigned, but never really felt the need to make time for.
For those of us putting off the real world for a couple more years of education, it is simply one step closer. For others, it’s right around the corner.
For Anthony Zanontian, this inevitable time came last spring, when he graduated from UCLA with a history degree.
Zanontian went straight to work in the finance department of Paramount Pictures.
But he soon realized the nine-to-five workday and the sort of daily grind that went along with working for a large company was not for him, and he wasn’t ready to resign to something he hated.
Zanontian found that his friend, a 2005 graduate of UC Berkeley, felt the same way. Allen Vartazarian had worked at Wells Fargo, also in the finance department.
With no idea what direction they wanted to go, the two spent three days brainstorming a variety of entrepreneurial endeavors, and soon created a model for an Internet start-up.
“We just picked up and did it,” Zanontian said.
They constructed an idea for a Web site, called Famesource, that matches fans with talent ““ in other words, YouTube meets “American Idol.” The potential stars create a profile that fans can then vote on in order to give their favorites greater exposure.
Starting their own business required research into the legal aspects of starting an online company, money and a full-time commitment. They quit their jobs, interviewed about 30 developers to help with the site, and funded the project with their own savings and loans from their parents.
“We did our own research, filed our own paperwork, we found it all online,” Zanontian said.
Leaving the world of college to join the world of suits, structured work hours and stable paychecks may seem comforting to some and daunting to others. Continuing on to graduate school can be exciting, or an unfortunate necessity.
Whatever the case may be, it seems that graduating from college and finding a career, not just a job, will require more than just a degree. And it seems, perhaps life after college doesn’t have to be so predictable.
Famesource has had several hundred users and several thousand hits in its first two weeks. But if the site does not succeed, Zanontian says he wants to continue to work as an entrepreneur, and will not return to the sort of structured work environment that he found so unappealing.
E-mail Mishory at jmishory@media.ucla.edu.