In college, you have everything you could possibly want: free food and access to a gym (which you probably never went to but the idea is nice), best friends as roommates, unlimited themed parties, and, in retrospect, great classes. In the real world however, life gets a little more difficult. Graduation comes quickly, and all of a sudden you’re supposed to be an adult. You probably have a 9-to-5 job, bills to pay, little free time, and if you want to party, you have to pay. All this “adult stuff” can change you, hopefully for the better…but sometimes for the worse. Take a look at the seven types of people you could become after college:
1. The nostalgic one
“Why can’t we just be at [insert your popular college bar here] right now? I miss it so much,” you say every time you’re out with your friends. If this is you, you can’t get over the fact that college is over. You’re in denial and all you want to do is act like college was the best time of your life. In hindsight, it’s easy to forget about the bad things.
Tip: Take a moment to think about the all-nighters (especially during finals week), the inability to get away from the people you didn’t want to see, and all the boys who didn’t want to “be serious”…maybe you’ll stop your complaining.
2. The “Help Me, I’m Poor” one
You wonder how you’re going to pay for your morning coffee every time the subway fare or gas prices go up. But while you’re always whining about how everything is so expensive, you rarely decline invites to dinners, shows and concerts. You eat out most nights a week, yet you don’t think you can afford to pay for a weekend at the beach with your friends. Hmm…are you really keeping track of what you’re spending and are you spending it wisely?
Tip: Try using free websites and apps that help you keep track of your money, like Mint and Good Budget. The best part about these sites is that you can link them to your bank account and credit cards, creating your own tailored budget each month. The sites let you create categories of your spending as well, so you can know if you are overspending on things like travel or food.
3. The workaholic
You wake up at five, head to the gym, work until 9 pm, order food, check your email, go to sleep around midnight, wake up and do it all over again. You don’t do anything besides work because there’s just no time. You even keep food in your desk drawer because you rarely take real breaks where you actually leave the building. Your head hurts most nights because you can’t think straight after staring at your screen for 10 hours. You don’t go five minutes without checking your work email, even if you’re on a first date. You are a workaholic.
Tip: There’s a time for work and a time for play. If you don’t let yourself have any of the latter, you’ll burn out and that’s not healthy! Make a plan a few times a week to relax, shut down all your electronics and not think about work. Even if that means scheduling things like reading a book or exploring a new museum, you need that personal time to keep yourself energized.
4. The wanderer
You graduated, and now you’re just taking life as it comes. You don’t really know if you like your job or not and you don’t know what you want to do with your life. Ever since college ended, you’ve just wanted to explore different cities, jobs, relationships—everything. You don’t like to settle down and you don’t see why you have to—your options are endless! You change your mind every other day. You are a wanderer.
Tip: It’s fine to wander for a bit after college ends, but it can be easy to get lost. You need to take time to really think about what you like and don’t like, and what your ultimate goals are. Write down what’s working for you and what’s not in all areas of your life, just so you feel like you are on a path to somewhere (even if you’re still unsure what that path is!).
5. The partier
You can’t say no to an invite, and Thursday through Sunday, you’re out on the town! If your friends are being lame and won’t go out with you during the week, you’ll still have a few drinks at the bar. You never know whom you might meet!
Tip: The city never sleeps, but eventually you need to. It’s fun to have a good time as a college grad, but make sure you still have a few days to yourself to recharge.
6. The serial dater
You have a date every other night this week. You meet guys when you’re out, through friends, and online. You check Tinder, Hinge and JSwipe like an addict. It’s not that you’re lonely, you just like meeting everyone. You don’t know what you want but you think you’ll figure it out if you just date enough people…
Tip: There’s nothing wrong with dating in your post-college years—you finally have access to meet so many different people outside of your school’s bubble! Just make sure you’re thinking about the qualities you like or don’t like, so when you’re ready to settle down, you know exactly what you’re looking for.
7. Social media-obsessed
If you can’t go 10 minutes without checking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Foursquare, and/or Pinterest, you are O.W.S.M (Obsessed with Social Media). Ever since college ended, you feel like you have to show everyone that you’re loving life in the real world, which means posting lots of pictures. You text your friends to ask which filter to use and what to write in your caption on Instagram. You get anxious if you have to wait to see how many likes you get when your phone dies, and you even take down your picture if you don’t get at least 11 within the hour. While using social media is becoming the norm in our culture, you’ve taken it a little too far.
Tip: Set limits. As in, don’t spend more than five minutes choosing an Instagram filter. There are more important things you could be doing than spending all your time staring at screens.
Life changes after you leave college, and so will you. Whatever you’ve become, make sure that you’re not taking post-college life too seriously. It’s fine to be nostalgic for your college days, spend your own money on what you actually want to spend it on, and post photos of brunch on Instagram, but make sure you’re taking the time to learn and grow. Be sure you’re taking advantage of all that the adult world has to offer—make the most of it, graduette!