There are two types of feelings about graduating––my life is over and I have no clue what's next, or you're excited about making real money and growing up. Graduation can be scary. The future can be scary. College becomes comfortable and the thought of leaving your friends and your comfort zone can be overwhelming. Thinking of what is next may make you panic, but you're not alone. Countless other people graduated and are thriving in the real world. Here are the best pieces of advice seven college graduates have to help you in the real world.
1. "Your best resources are your professors." - Meghan
There are cool, helpful people that are in your career field or know someone who can get you to your dream job––your professors. Whether your path is grad school or a career, networking with them is one of your best options. The amount of wisdom and knowledge they possess is overwhelming. That's why people tell you to get to know your professors they're a great resource for your entire career. Their knowledge goes way past theory and practices––they can give you great advice about your strengths, companies you should apply for and the best graduate schools for you.
2. "Stop planning and start enjoying." - Hannah
You still have time in college left, so stop stressing so much about checking everything off your checklist. It's important to have goals and achieve them, but enjoy your time left in college. Enjoy time with your friends, go sleigh ride down the hill with a trashcan lid and stay up late watching movies with your friends, eat junk food and talk about your lives and explore cool places and just live. You'll never get your time in college back, but you have the rest of your adulthood to worry about your career and checklist. You don't want to look back and realize you wasted this time.
3. "Shake as many hands as you can." - Noah
Did someone speak to your class? Shake their hand and introduce yourself. Introduce yourself to your professors and the people at career fairs. Be kind to your peers and help them when they need it. You never know where it may lead to in the future. People are placed in our lives for a reason––it's up to us to build connections with them.
4. "Your bucket list is important!" - Chava
You'll never have this amount of free time again. You'll never get the chance to study abroad, have a spring break and three months off in the summer. What are the things you desperately want to do? Do you want to travel across Europe, hike the Appalachian Trail, snorkel with dolphins or travel to a cool city? This is your chance. There are all kinds of study abroad and options for you to travel while in college. Don't let these experiences slip through your fingers. Yes, college is important, and I understand having to work, I do too. But realize that this free time you have now is valuable. Don't spend it all working––we have the rest of our lives to do that.
5. "Honestly, adulting is kind of a trap but it's a part of growing up." - Maggie
Adulting is rough. You're faced with the expense of living on your own, working every day from 8-5, upholding several responsibilities and it can be overwhelming. Even if you feel prepared now, you will feel belittled at some point. Even though it's rough, I've learned to embrace it. If we look back for our entire lives, we will never learn to embrace where we are. Enjoy every part of your life. Enjoy being in college and when you've graduated, enjoy adulthood. Did I enjoy college? Yes, absolutely. But I don't wish for it back. Because I know that each phase in our life is beautiful and it's up to us to enjoy it.
6. "Learn to budget now, your future self will thank you later." - Maredith
One of the most important things to do is to determine what you need from what you want. We live in a world that is name brand driven. Not only in clothing but in cleaning products, food, and cars. We tend to look at people that are in later stages of life and say "I wish I had their life" with their fancy clothes, nice cars, and material items. We then start to emulate our lives to be like their's and not taking into account we're not in the same stage of life as them. No newly college graduate will have a career that will allow them to live the same way someone in an established career would. It's not glamorous but that's okay. If you do right now what no one else will do, you'll be doing things in 20 years what no else can imagine. If you save now, you will be set up to live a life so much more comfortable than others.
7. "Find the courage to live authentically as yourself." - Liz
Find the courage to live authentically as yourself. There is nothing more freeing than knowing you are perfectly made by our God. Surround yourself with friends who love you, support you and build you up to believe in the beauty that was inside you all along. Be confident in yourself; college is tough, but the real world is tougher. When you find these friends, you won't worry about what is to come. You will understand that when you have people you love, you have everything you need. We focus what too much on what is to come––but I say embrace it. Embrace it hand-in-hand with those who you can depend on.
"Life is tough, but darling, so are you."
