It’s completely okay to not have an answer.
Dear scared Senior student souls,
If you’re and about to wrap up your college education or (already closed that chapter of your life), then you probably are tired of being asked the cringe-worthy question, “so what are your plans for after graduation?” Am I right, or am I right? So now that we are all in the same boat, you’re probably sailing along the waters giving a response of “applying for jobs,” “moving back in with the parents to figure things out,” or just a simple, “ I don’t know yet.” As I wrap up my final semester of undergrad, I have found myself using similar context in my conversations, and let me just say before I go on, you’re not alone, so take a deep breath.
Many of you, with coffee in hand, spend countless hours surfing websites Indeed and Monster, tearing up the website like a round of Hunger Games searching for the perfect job, in many cases getting either no response or a negative Nelly to crush your professional aspirations. It can be hard to come to terms with the realization that the solo life is over, and it’s time to move back home after those freedom-filled glory days of undergrad.
The reality is, many of you have no clue what is next in our futures, and lets face it, it’s all kind of a blur. With a bunch of your friends receiving job offers or paid internships, moving across the country or traveling the world, it’s scary to wonder the world of the unknown with graduation creeping up behind you. Feeling scared and panicked became hackneyed, as the light at the end of the tunnel was nowhere to be found. To feel worthless can be discouraging, but can you just stop for a second and read this slowly, you’re about to graduate, pat yourself on the back, you achieved a goal many dream to do!
So if you don’t have a job lined up waiting for you as you walk off the stage, its absolutely fine! Take the time to soak it all in, you deserve it. You have reached yet another milestone in your educational career, and for once you don’t have to work about the grunt work of school or extracurricular or a job just yet. So instead of comparing yourself to others, relax and hang out with your friends! Travel a little and do whatever you want before life drags you along once again. In the meantime, stay hopeful and stay on your grind by searching and applying for jobs. Everything falls into place at the right time; so let it happen when it’s mean to happen, I promise it will be okay.
For those who do have to move back home after completing college, its not the end of an era, its okay! You have the rest of your life to work and have your own space. So take the time to really enjoy the people and things around you. After four grueling years of hard work and stress you put in, you finished that B.S. (pun intended!) These times may feel hard, but these times too shall pass. So if you feel like you’re alone, just know I’m rooting for you and hope this took a few or a hundred bricks of your chest, you got this!
Sincerely, your fellow graduating college senior