It was a Tuesday during the fourth week of school of the fall semester and I had already been asked a total of three times “So, what are you doing after graduation?” It is this year’s most popular small-talk starter. But, what seems like a simple conversation is actually a trigger for the majority of seniors to experience an internal breakdown. At family parties it’s the worst, when the whole fam’ wants to hear what your next move is…
Courtesy: Tenor
Yes, it is a simple and good-natured question. Yes, maybe at this point in a perfect reality every senior should have a seamlessly laid out plan that outlines his or her goals and deadlines. But unfortunately, that is just not the case. To us, the infamous question sounds more like, “So what ARE you doing after graduation?? To be quite frank, the fact I haven’t seen a Facebook post letting the world know you got your dream job yet is actually really worrisome. You know graduation is mere months away…. I just want you to be successful and not end up living back home with your parents.”
Life after college is the itch in the middle of our shoulder blades that we just can’t seem to reach yet. Thoughts about what we are going to do post-graduation creep into our minds in the quiet hours of the night. Trust us, we are working on it and sometimes it is just a little bit stressful.
Here are various reactions that we feel either at one time or all at once when we are blindsided with demands of our post grad plans.
1. Language Skills Evaporate
At first we’re almost shocked. Are you seriously asking this right now? We are still trying to make it to graduation! Internships, tests and papers are still drowning us. Some of us are enrolled in the most difficult classes of our college careers. Could you settle down please?
2. Having No Idea What-So-Ever
The truth is, post grad decisions seem like a big deal to us, and sometimes we still feel like we are little kids who aren’t ready for this thing our professors keep throwing around during lecture – “the real world.” What do you mean I don’t get a syllabus that tells me exactly what I’m supposed to do?
3. Complete and Total Panic
Stop oh god no. Not this again. I can’t breathe. Why oh why are you doing this to me. *hides under the cover* I want to stay in college forever.
4. Dreams That Keep Getting Shot Down
Courtesy: Giphy
Sometimes when we are hit with the question, we just get a wave of all the dreams “realists” keep shooting down.
5. Grad School Maybe?
Knowing you should probably go to grad school, but the current student loans you already have makes you sick. There’s also the case of senioritis you’re battling, making the thought of more schooling a little unsettling.
6. Fear of Failure
Rumor has it that school doesn’t prepare you for a “real” job anyway. You mean I have to jump into my career field not really knowing my face from my hand?! Stressed is an understatement.
7. Indifference Settles In
Realistically, we have no idea what is waiting for us on the other side of that diploma, and many of us just fall into the dark deep ocean of indifference and say we’ll figure it out when we get there.
But really, from one fellow uncertain senior to another, erase the social norm of having to follow a set path. “Go to school, get a job, get married in that order in a timely fashion or else,” is so outdated at this point. Go where your heart and hard work takes you. And please try to remember, if you ever find yourself not fulfilled, unhappy, and wanting to do something new in your adulthood, then do it – make a change. Let us make history as those who aren’t afraid of change and are limitless. Happy senior year, friends.