For some reason, I thought the world would end when I graduated high school. I just had this feeling that after all the basketball games and senior socials and hanging out with my friends was over, the rest of my life would be the same. Monotonous. That things would never be just as they were.
I was right, partially. Nothing was the same, but it wasn’t dull. I didn’t lose myself completely, but I did change. I found that my friends stayed my friends, even if I saw them less. My life was a bit more chaotic and uncertain, but that kind of made it fun. I had more freedom than I’d ever had before, and with that freedom came loneliness and fear. But I found a new part of myself. I came out of my shell (to sound clichĂ©). And I made new friends, had new experiences, learned things and became someone unrecognisable to my high school self.
Now I’m about to graduate from college. I’m living in England, I have a job and new friends, and I’m once again faced with the prospect of everything changing and the fear that the world is ending. I have no idea where I’ll be next year, what I’ll do, or how I’ll get there. But I know that I’ve done it before.
I know that everyone says your 20s are for mistakes and experiencing new things. But the reality of living that out is terrifying. It’s scary, and it hurts, and sometimes you want things to stay the same. But where’s the fun in that? Everything I’ve come to love about my life was found on the other side of an immeasurable amount of anxiety and change. I moved away from home to London when I was 18, and it was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. But I love it here.
So to anyone facing the same prospect of graduating, yes, nothing will be the same. But the world is not ending. You’ll find new people, your friends will stay your friends, and you will not disappear. You will find a job, maybe not a great one right away, but a good enough one. Everything will be ok.
Whenever you are faced with the option to stay the same or completely start over, start over. You’ll never be starting from scratch, and you’ll never be alone. That’s what I’ve learned here anyway, and it’s helping me now. It will be ok.