Congratulations, you’ve graduated! By now you’ve successfully crossed the symbolic stage into adulthood where you were handed that single piece of paper that will dictate your entire future. It’s a little daunting. You’re wondering if you’re ready for this, if you’re ready to step off into the real world. With the "best years of your life" behind you, what do you do now? Where do you even go?
At this point you’ve probably spent thousands of hours in the library, countless sunny days shut inside taking notes and writing papers; you’ve sacrificed so much. It’s taken you at least four solid years, of literal blood, sweat, and tears to get to this point. And after everything, it’s almost frustrating not to know where you’re heading next. But let me tell you something: It’s OK if you aren’t ready.
We’ve constantly been told throughout our lives that after college we were supposed to have our whole lives figured out. But the truth is, life isn’t that simple. You’re not always going to get that job straight out of the gate. Sometimes you’ll be the one sitting around for months, trying to figure out what those last four years even did for you. Other times, the world just seems so big that you feel like you’re being pulled in too many directions.
And it’s OK to feel either way.
A big reminder: We were told to make a decision that would impact the rest of our lives at 19 years old. At 19, some of us we were blushing at "50 Shades of Grey" and were still wearing Silly Bandz. In all honesty, we had barely begun to experience the world. We were hardly considered by many as adults, and yet we’re given such a heavy choice to make; to be told that the we had to figure out what we wanted to do for the rest of our lives before 25 was a lot to place on a person who was more preoccupied with trying to figure out how to use the hashtag.
Even when we thought we had it all figured out, some of us learned that things don’t always go the way we expect them to. Sometimes the game doesn’t go according to plan, and sometimes you're the one who changes. So it’s OK if you don’t have a job lined up, or if you’re still trying to figure it all out.
I know that I’m young, and that I know so little of the world, but here’s the one piece of advice that I can offer you all. Find the one thing that drives you most, whatever that may be. It might be a goal or a dream, or even a person. But it has to be something that grows a passion inside of you. Once you find that something, never lose it, and make sure everything you do is driven by that passion.
If you have that then you’ll be OK, and if you’re still searching for it, don’t stop looking for it. Just remember that life is a one-shot opportunity, so make it worth something.
