So, commencement is May 18th. That’s less than 50 days from now. Everytime, I think about it my stomach drops. Feelings of impending doom come over me and my mind starts to race. My audible reaction to someone bringing up graduation is, “Aaah!” What comes next? For 22 years, after every summer used to come more school. But, not this time.
The thing is, God, I love college. Coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown as a 2020 high school senior, I never thought I would get a normal social life or excel in extracurricular activities and clubs. But, the reality is I did. I got it all and I am so sad to say goodbye. I have so many great friends that I have made amazing memories with. I have taken advantage of every opportunity given to me and as long as I go into the world with the same attitude I think I will be okay. I just have to relieve the anxiety that comes with the inevitable passing of time.
Graduation anxiety is real. Graduation is the moment you are considered a real life person, expected to have a job and a life. It’s so overwhelming with the constant pressures of society– the relentless questions from family friends, “what’s your plan after school?” and the non-stop comparison from seeing peer’s Linkedin post accomplishments.
However, after chatting with two women with over 30 years of experience in journalism, they have both said something I was honestly surprised about. They shared that it was okay to take this summer to relax and keep applying and staying in contact with people in the field. We have the rest of our lives to work. Another eye opening moment is that in the majority of people, no one knows what they want to do and most people don’t have everything figured out. People just jump to jobs where they can or what they feel like at the moment.
The reality is we do not need to have everything figured out. It’s okay to go home if you have the privilege to or if you put in the work and find a job right out of college, great. But, personally, I need to stop putting so much stress and pressure on myself. I have connections with people in the industry I want to work in and I’ll keep applying to jobs, but I won’t let it consume me.
I have to take advantage of the next two months left in college and have fun because it will soon just become distant memories. I have to soak up the late night laughs at the sisterhood sorority events, campus gossip at the newspaper meeting, and nights out with the only responsibility being the possibility of class in the morning.
Graduation is near, but I have the rest of my life to be anxious about the unknown future. So, might as well be where my feet are and enjoy the last couple weeks left of youth and university.