Congrats, senior collegiettes: we’re almost done! As LDOC and graduation loom closer and closer, you may be getting nervous about post-grad life and leaving college behind. But don’t freak out—although UNC will always be near and dear to our hearts, there are actually a lot of awesome things about graduating. Check out our list below!
1. No more dorms.
Ah, college dorms. Lots of young people (many with questionable hygiene and cleaning habits) crammed in a brick building, sharing a tiny room with another person, dealing with RAs, dealing with loud noise from the suite next door…yeah, we won’t miss that. Living in a dorm may make for some great memories, but we’re going to be glad to get our own room in our own place after graduation.
2. No more dining hall food.
Some questions are just better left unanswered, like what exactly was in that Ram’s Head meatloaf (and how many calories it contained). After graduation, you can say goodbye to mass-produced food that may look and/or smell a little strange. And did we mention you’d never have to hunt for a table for you and your friends at Lenoir at 12 p.m. ever again? That was like The Hunger Games on a daily basis.
3. No more homework (and more free time!).
Unless you’re headed to grad school, graduating from college means no more homework. No more papers, no more exams, no more group projects, no more readings, no more all-nighters! For those of you headed to the workforce, you’ll still be, you know, working, but after you get out of work at 5 or 6 p.m., you’re done for the day. And you’ll never spend a weekend cooped up in Davis writing a research paper ever again! You can learn to cook, start an exercise routine, get drinks with your cute co-worker, actually do a DIY project you saw on Pinterest…with no more homework sucking up your evenings and weekends, the world is your oyster, girl.
4. No more college guys.
College dating can be a bummer. Between players, beer-bonging frat guys, anxiety-inducing DTR talks, hookups and waiting for a text from a guy that may never actually come, we’ve had enough of college guys and their immaturity. But after graduation, you won’t be sucked into that college hookup culture vortex again! Welcome to the world of post-grad dating, full of young professionals who are building their careers instead of their beer pong tables. And a post-work happy hour mingling with guys in suits sounds so nice after years of PJ and frat houses.
5. No more textbooks.
Remember how you dropped $300 on that one chemistry textbook at the beginning of this semester? You can say goodbye to ever doing that again. Never again will you have to spend hours on Amazon and Half.com comparing prices of textbooks you will never use again after one semester (or maybe at all during the semester), and never again will you have to drop several hundred dollars buying said textbooks you’ll never use again after one semester. You’ll also never again have to feel that heart-wrenching disappointment when you sell that $300 chem textbook back to Student Stores for $50 in May.
6. You can meet new people.
UNC may be a big campus, but after four years and meeting people through clubs and classes, it can seem pretty small. Although we’ll definitely keep in touch with all of the awesome friends we’ve met at UNC, it’ll be nice to meet new people from different walks of life after graduation, whether it’s at grad school, at a new job, while volunteering or while traveling.
7. You can try out living in a new place.
Let’s be real: Chapel Hill is the best town on earth. But after four years in the Southern Part of Heaven, it may be time to try out somewhere new. After graduation, you can move wherever you want to. You can try out living in a city, another small town…maybe even find a job, grad school or volunteering experience overseas! We’re young; if there’s a time to try out living in a different place for a few months or years, it’s now. Plus, you can always come back and visit Chapel Hill (especially during basketball season).
8. You can finally do what you’ve always wanted to do.
College was a place where you could explore your different interests and figure out who you are and what you want to do with your life. But it was also a place where you had to take lots of unrelated gen ed classes and write papers relating to your dream job instead of actually doing it. After graduation, you finally get to devote yourself to what you’re really passionate about. You can finally start your career in the field you love. If you love research and want to go further into your academic interests, grad school provides you with that opportunity. Always wanted to travel or volunteer, but classes always got in the way? Guess who just got a lot of free time! Now that you don’t have (undergrad) school in your way, you’re free to really devote yourself to your passions.
9. You can say you did it!
Graduation isn’t something to dread—it’s something to celebrate! You survived four years of exams, all-nighters and strict professors, and you came out strong. That’s no easy task! You should be proud of everything you’ve accomplished in undergrad, from academic achievements to life ones. You’ll have truly done something great by graduating from Carolina, so get excited!
Photo credits:
Grad caps (photo): Christina Vasilevski, http://christinavasilevski.com/2011/04/a-review-of-the-ryerson-publishing-program-part-1/graduation-cap-in-air/
Frat bro (photo): Her Campus, http://www.hercampus.com/love/….
Graduated (photo): stock.xchng, http://www.sxc.hu/photo/660438.