In high school, being called a second-semester senior was practically the highest form of flattery. Second-semester seniors ruled the high school halls, impervious to rules, homework, and stress, living without a care in the world, and enthusiastic about the future.
However, the term second-semester senior takes a new form once you hit that mark in college. Excitement is replaced with feelings of fear and uncertainty, especially for the unemployed. Being a second-semester senior in college certainly does not come with the same appeal it did once before.
Let’s face it– college graduation marks the end of life as we know it. We’ve been in school our entire lives, being a student is all we know! Never again will we stay up all-night to cram for an exam, meet with a teacher at office hours, or live at the library during finals week. Never again will we wake up for class at 2:30 pm, drink excessively 4+ times a week, and have all of our friends within a five block radius.
We’re gearing up for something completely new: the “real world,” and all of the ever-so-thrilling excitement that comes with networking, sending out job applications, and preparing for interviews. Sounds like fun and not stressful at all, right?!
Suddenly being an adult is not such a far-off reality. Soon enough, we’re expected to wake up for work at the crack of dawn, pay bills, taxes, or even those student loans we forgot all about. We’re even expected to order classy drinks instead of the shots we’re used to, as if that’s a normal concept.
So it’s inevitable that second-semester seniors come down with a severe case of senioritis because all of this is extremely overwhelming. However, the impending pressures of adulthood shouldn’t burden the rest of senior year. Don’t let the job search dominate your life. There are still ample amounts of fun to be had your last semester at college, so live it up before you become a slave to the working world. As Scotty P once said, live life with “No Ragrets.”