Remember how we felt that first day we came to college, the excitement mixed with fear of the unknown? We were worried about making friends, how hard the classes were going to be after hearing our high school teachers’ warnings and sharing a room with (for some) a total stranger. Fast-forward to the last week of undergrad and all of those questions we faced were answered with some of the most fun and stressful years of our lives. Now those worries have shifted to new concerns: what’s life going to be for us after college? Some might be having a hard time getting ready to say goodbye to school and everything with it. Others have been over it for the past year and graduation day can’t come soon enough. Whether you have your plans figured out yet (or not), everyone has questions about some part of their future. Here are five issues you might be worried about facing after turning your tassels:
1. The constant FOMO
It’s not like the FOMO you have when you decide to skip a party one weekend. You’ll be feeling like you’re missing out in general. Most recent graduates say that one of the hardest parts about not being in college anymore is seeing everyone else still in college. This is especially hard if you’re part of any organization that you love and have been involved as you watch it move on without you. You’ll be onto the next chapter of your life, but you won’t have that complete access to a social life anymore or the friends who were like your second family.
2. Making friends
Since we were five years old, friends have practically been forced on us in some capacity. Being in school, it’s been generally easy to make at least a few friends. It’s not going to be the same in the professional world where you might be working with a bunch of 50-year-olds. Even if you’re going straight to grad school, you’re not really there for the social aspect of it outside of networking. We’re going to have to actually start putting ourselves out there.
3. Change of routine
Adjusting to life after graduation might be scary just because college was such a weird routine. You’ve probably had a job or internship that you’ve been balancing with classes and homework, but your schedule has been all over the place. When you graduate you might have a full time job in your field of study, so your schedule will be much different and there won’t be as much room for spontaneity, like pulling all-nighters to finish a paper and not having to go to class until 10:30.
Related: #GradSchoolStruggles: The Application and Acceptance Gauntlet
4. Losing touch with friends
Let’s be real, a good majority of college friends are social media friends, and by senior year we really have a handful of our truest, closest friends. We all have different lives and separate paths we want to take, so a big concern is if we’re going to stay in each other’s lives. If you are staying in the area, then there’s probably a good chance you’ll still see your undergrad friends in some capacity. Staying in contact with friends after graduation might take some effort, but if they’re true and strong friendships, they should last.
5. Affording to Live
You might already have a job lined up for after graduation with a decent salary, but many of us are wondering if we will make enough to live off of or support ourselves. For at least the first couple years of college, we’ve had the convenience of having food right at our fingertips with the almighty meal plan. Even as upperclassmen, many have had families help provide with food and housing. Now that we’re entering the big collegiette world, will we be so broke that we can only live off of cereal on a regular basis?
There’s so many life questions swirling around in our almost-graduate’ brains right now, but we’re all in the same boat and we can get through it together. Senior year of college is a hectic and confusing time, but here’s to the next chapter of our lives.
May we make both friends and rent.