Four years ago, our naive freshmen selves were dropped off on campus and were forced to basically figure out all the major things: who we are, who we want to be, who we want to spend our time with, how we want to spend our time, and, most importantly, what we are going to do in college to prepare ourselves for the real world. But honestly, freshman year was mostly all about finding your friends, immersing yourself in the college experience, and MAYBE figuring out your major.
Then came sophomore year, and you felt absolutely invincible. Or at least I did. I mean, we had finished our first year of college, we were no longer the newbies on campus that everyone made fun of or hated, and we finally knew how the campus and campus life worked. We were living life comfortably, with the prospect of graduation still lightyears away, and the only pressure was to declare a major.
But when junior year hit, we felt a little pressure. Sure, study abroad was amazing, but when we all came back, we really needed to crack down on finding internships. Getting an interview seemed impossible, and once in a while, we would panic about our futures because without internships, how can we get jobs? But it all worked out and we enjoyed our junior years anyway.
And suddenly, in August we came back to our home for the last four years, realizing this was the last time we were moving into our apartments and houses. Bittersweet was the best way to describe it; we've had a great four years, but the idea of becoming real adults and living the lives we've been working so hard for the last four years seemed exciting. But even first semester, us seniors were focused on only living it up and enjoying our last fall semester as college students.
Now that second semester is in full swing, so is (as I've noticed) absolute PANIC. People are trying to juggle their last bits of college life with the everyday existential crisis and frantic job search. So, in an attempt to clarify my own racing, panicked thoughts and to tell my fellow second-semester seniors they are not alone in their panic, here are 11 thoughts all second-semester seniors have.
What the hell am I going to do after graduation??
How do I know which jobs to apply for??
What if I never get a job??
How am I going to pay off all these loans??
How am I also supposed to pay for all these bills??
Will I ever move out of my parents' house??
What if I hate my job??
What sort of benefits should I look for in a job??
How does the world trust me to be a real adult??
Will I ever save enough money to live my life??
Will I be a successful adult??
And here's my bit of inspiration. Despite all of the worried thoughts about money, jobs, and just being an adult with lots of responsibilities, everything is going to work out fine. Just keep calm and work hard, and the rest will fall into place. Congrats, Class of 2019!
