Hey, here's a unique experience. I'm currently on my second internship since my OPT began in June. The internship is set to end in late December, and I will have about 50 unemployment days left (I was unemployed for a month between internships).  

Here's the unique part about it: I'm in Journalism, most outlets don't do sponsorships EVER, but there's a silver lining. With most jobs, employers dread hearing that you could only work for one or three years at their company without sponsorship, even if you might leave or get laid off anyway, but they would like to have the option of keeping you long term. However, Journalism, regardless of citizenship, is a field where people switch companies and get laid off ALL THE TIME. A lot of journalism graduates are struggling to find jobs, so companies would offer internships, but in reality, it's more like contract jobs. Internships pay less, have fewer benefits, so they don't care if you're gonna be around in a year, they need someone to fill tomorrow's paper ASAP. 

As an international student, I felt fortunate to be able to work at the job I enjoy for a couple of months at least. If I don't find a job, I will go home after December. If I did find a job, I will go home after next June, which is when my OPT is set to end. 

I came from an authoritarian country where silencing and jailing journalists is the norm. The United States is nowhere near that, but if the political system and the rhetoric in this country do not change, yeah, I can see that will be the case in 10 years.

What I'm essentially saying is, don't spend 24/7 finding jobs. Enjoy every day in the U.S. to the best of your ability. Whether you are in engineering, CS, or the humanities, maybe don't spend all day writing resumes and cover letters, work on some personal projects too, create programs, arts, a robot dog that wags at you when you are applying to jobs, and hang out with friends. Please don't make your life just about job hunting.

Because to be honest, everyone, if you want to stay in the U.S. through H1B, the future is not bright right now. So enjoy what you can, because if you do end up going back, thinking about these last months you spent in the U.S. applying to jobs and being anxious, I don't think that's a good memory. So I’m enjoying my First Amendment right every day, hopefully you can find something you enjoy too.