In just over a month I will be an alumna of Skidmore College. I’ve gone through pretty much all five stages of grief regarding this, and I’m slowly, reluctantly, moving toward acceptance. In this slow move, I am finding myself excited to get out of Saratoga and eager to make money (if I ever do)—however, I’m still anxious about the transition, getting a job, and not being in such close quarters to all my friends. I can’t avoid graduating, though, and I definitely don’t want to be here without all my friends next year. So, I’m having to make moves. I know that many other people are feeling similarly to me right now, so, from one graduation procrastinator to another, here are the first few steps I’m taking in an attempt to ready myself for post-grad (ew) life/the real world (what)/being an adult (or whatever).
1. I’m learning how to handle money
At some point last year, or maybe the year before, Her Campus sent us Nicole Lapin’s book Rich Bitch in a survival kit. I ended up with a copy of the book, which I brought home, put on my bookshelf, and promptly forgot about. Recently, I was listening to a favorite podcast of mine called The Lady Gang, and they had Nicole on as a guest. The episode was old, from right after Rich Bitch came out, and Nicole was talking about managing money in such an approachable way that I decided to take another look at her book. I’m really lucky in that I haven’t had to finance myself through college, but, because of that, I don’t feel like I have a very good understanding of how money works in big numbers. So, after listening to the podcast, I asked my mom to dig Rich Bitch up for me (it was behind like seven other books) and my dad mailed it up to campus along with a few things I’d accidentally ordered to my house instead of school (see: reasons I need to learn how to handle my money). I’m reading a bit of it before bed every night. It’s helping me get off my phone before bed and learn how to not be broke after college, assuming I get a job. Step one.
2. I’m actually thinking about jobs
I can’t even tell you how long I’ve put off thinking about jobs, let alone applying to them. I’m still not entirely clear on exactly where I want to be after I graduate, but I’m starting (late) to think about that. For most of this year I’ve just pretended I didn’t have to—pretended everything would fall into place and I wouldn’t have to be stressed or anxious or scared about this whole thing. It’s April and that hasn’t happened. So, I’ve logged back into LinkedIn, polished my resume with the help of my career coach friend, attended a CDC event, tried to network (whatever that means) and applied to 1 (one) job so far. Slow but steady, you know.
3. I’m trying to fix my sleeping schedule
Oh my God, do I need to fix my sleeping schedule. I’m a combined night owl and insomniac who’s gotten to the point of looking at the clock at 2am and thinking “oh, it’s not that late yet.” Yeah. And then I have to get up for class at 8:40 on Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s out of hand, and I’m a little bit of a zombie. So, I’ve been making an active effort to fix that because hopefully I’ll get a job which means, unfortunately, I’ll be waking up at 6 or 7 every morning. I’ve started making an effort to be in bed by midnight, and, while I haven’t managed it every night so far, I’ve felt remarkably better on the nights that I have. Getting eight hours of sleep is, like, really cool you guys.
So, there you have it. Those are three concrete steps I’m taking right now to prepare myself for life after college. I’m definitely slipping up sometimes, (see: the fact that I went to the mall on Friday and spent over $100 and the fact that I was up until like 1:30 or 2 last night) but I’m getting better. And graduation is getting realer.