Grad students

According to a recent study by LiveScience, about half of Americans dislike their jobs, and most of these unhappy employees are under 25 years old.

In response to a statistic that looms over many students' post-graduation life, four University of Arizona graduates have created Pursue the Passion (PTP), a research project geared towards helping young people find happiness in the workforce.

"Our goal is to find out how you can be passionate about your career," said Brett Farmiloe, the group's founder. "I didn't really know what to do after graduating. I wanted to make sure I was really doing something worthwhile, so I started talking to people who already knew what they wanted to do."

In May 2006, Farmiloe created a website so he could share his findings and embarked on a cross-country tour to collect stories about how other Americans have found their passion.

"I realized this (project) couldn't reach its full potential if other students couldn't benefit from it too," he said.

Over the past two summers, the crew has interviewed 175 professionals who found their direction and love their jobs.

"I think that what's special about what we're doing is that everyone we've interviewed has been in the shoes of people who don't know what to do with their life," Farmiloe said, "then figured it out and love what they do now."

The Pursue the Passion RV rolled onto the field next to Clemens Hall this past Wednesday and conducted impromptu interviews with students, thus marking PTP's first college campus stop on the tour.

They plan on visiting five more schools this summer including Syracuse University, Virginia Tech, Duke and Tulane.

To Farmiloe, visiting campuses is important. He believes that, although colleges employ career counselors to help students find a direction for their major, students need another, younger source of inspiration.

"Our generation, in my opinion, doesn't really have anyone to talk to about these issues," he said. "There aren't many young people out there to talk to. Students can go to a career counselor two times their age, or they can talk to someone at their own level through us."

Daniel Ryan, director of Career Services, said that alternative sources need to be brought onto campus to remind students that the future is near and it doesn't have to be bleak.

"Career Services always tries to connect with students as soon as possible, but students sometimes wait until their senior year to come to us for help," he said. "It's not always the case that they find someone doing the job they want to do - sometimes students can be inspired by people who have faced adversity and still found a career they love."

According to Ryan, Career Services will be hosting a series of events at the end of September and beginning of October to encourage students to think about their futures early in the year.

"We thought there was a nice synergy between what we're doing and what they're doing," he said.

One of PTP's main goals is to film a documentary. This will essentially be a mixed collection of interviews with both professionals and college students, according to Farmiloe.

However, the group is still in its beginning stages.

"This is the first year when we could actually execute a tour - it's really in the process of development," Farmiloe said.

PTP will continue to grow as the crew builds student involvement by setting up a program in 2008 that will allow them to receive internship credit for being a part of the team, he said.

According to Farmiloe, the group's message is simple: "You have to find that passion inside of you and go follow it."

E-mail: spectrum-news@buffalo.edu