After the graduation caps have been thrown, diplomas collected, and a dozen photos have been snapped, it’s over. Sixteen years of class schedules and academic structure are gone, along with the realization that the path forward in your life is entirely your own.
Cue, “You’re on your own, kid” by Taylor Swift.
Whether you’ve nabbed your dream job in a new city, or are returning home to live with your parents, it’s all overwhelming and it’s okay to feel like nothing in life makes sense anymore. In the spirit of celebrating December graduates, here are some tips to navigate this confusing time in your life.
1. Don’t compare your journey to others.
With the pressures of social media, it’s extremely easy to fall into the comparison game. She’s traveling in Europe for the summer, he’s got a six-figure job at a tech company. What have I done wrong? You’ve done nothing wrong. Your journey is yours, and theirs is theirs. You graduated college! Which is a huge accomplishment in itself. Be kind to yourself, and embrace the possibility of the unknown.
2. Don’t be ashamed if you don’t still don’t know what you want to do.
In the perfect world, what we decide to study at 18 is what we plan to do for the rest of our lives. But life isn’t perfect, it’s messy and confusing, and being 22 doesn’t mean you have to have everything figured out. The average age to start law school is 26. Rick Riordan published the first book of the Percy Jackson series at 41. SZA studied marine biology in college before dropping out. It’s okay to not know what you want to do. It’s okay to change your mind a million times as well.
3. It’s okay if you still feel like a teenager.
As someone who is 1.5 years out of college, I still sometimes feel like an eighteen-year-old who’s never left home before. I think that’s the funny thing about your twenties, you’re considered a woman, but the majority of your experiences are from girlhood. Your parents can’t fix everything for you, but you’re not entirely sure how to fix it all either. So let yourself watch the high school rom-com, pop open a legal bottle of wine, and just feel your emotions.
4. It’s okay to fail.
Failing is never fun, but it’s a part of life. And in this job market, which requires four years for an entry-level job, it’s easy to feel like you’re not enough. It’s important to remember that rejections aren’t personal, and they don’t reflect your value as a person.
Featured image via Emily Ranquist on Pexels
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