Livingston College graduate Charles Simmons breathed a sigh of relief at this year’s universitywide commencement ceremony May 21. Famed broadcaster Gwen Ifill was delivering the keynote address when she assured the crowd, representing 10,852 Rutgers graduates, that it was OK not to know what’s next. Simmons, a resident of Elizabeth, New Jersey, who received his bachelor’s degree in sociology and criminal justice, took comfort in the words coming from such an accomplished woman.

“I am one of those students that kind of doesn’t know what’s going to happen. So it was inspiring to know that you don’t have to have it all figured out,” Simmons said.

The thousands of Rutgers students who officially received their bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at university commencement – and marked the occasion at two dozen convocation ceremonies in Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick – have varying plans that include graduate school, travel, career, and endless opportunities.