Donning black caps and gowns, about 400 students snaked through the back halls of a pavilion on the UC Davis campus, waiting to graduate.
The students – part of the College of Letters and Sciences – were just a portion of the more than 1,100 undergraduates who took part in the university's fall commencement ceremonies Saturday.
The fall graduation accommodates students who needed an extra term to complete their requirements, or finished early.
With the orchestra's rendition of "Pomp and Circumstance" echoing from the main hall, some laughed and posed for pictures. Others looked downright nervous.
"I don't really know how to feel," said Alex Lee, a psychology and philosophy student.
Lee, like many of his peers, is anxious about entering the job market as the economy sours and unemployment rates soar.
"It's been terrible," he said. "I've been rejected by so many places because they're all in hiring freezes."
His stalled job search is not uncommon.
Nationwide unemployment recently hit 6.7 percent, and the federal Labor Department said 533,000 jobs were lost last month, the worst one-month slide since the 1970s.
Some analysts have said recent college graduates face a particularly difficult time.
Lee plans on applying for jobs on campus for now, before he eventually pursues his goal of becoming a police officer.
Anxiety about the beaten economy is pushing many recent grads to hide away in graduate school to ride out the storm. Grad school admissions generally become cut-throat in bad economic times.
Darla Randolph, who graduated with a degree in psychology Saturday, said she hopes to attend a graduate program on her way toward becoming a psychologist.
"I'm worried about how competitive it will be," she said.
The general tone of Saturday's ceremony – before a few thousand friends and family – was lighthearted and optimistic.
The economy, however, was mentioned multiple times. Speakers looked to quell students' anxiety about the job market.
Winston Ko, dean of mathematical and physical sciences, said he was confident the education at UC Davis would provide tools to get through tough economic times.
"This is the College of Letters and Sciences," he said, pointing out that the nonspecialized nature of their curriculum would allow recent grads to adapt.
"This gives people a fundamental education."
The near future looked good for some.
Maithreyi Raman, who graduated with a degree in computer science and served as the ceremony's student speaker, has job offers from two large companies.
Raman was considering graduating last spring. She said that, despite her successful hunt this time around, the job search was much easier then.
"It's been a lot harder," she said.
"And in terms of salary, they are significantly less this time."
Call The Bee's Robert Faturechi, (916) 321-1098.
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