Graduation is a time of joy, celebration, and celebrating your accomplishment of making it through higher education. However, on the flip side, there is anxiety, confusion, feeling lost, and isolation due to the uncertain future. Everyone encourages you to finish strong and graduate, but why do people stop there? While many career services try to explain post-grad life, there is no real talk or preparation given to graduating students. Post-grad life is honestly one of the scariest times and can make you feel alone. Will your friends stay? Will you have a job? What happens now that you’re free from the structured life of academia? As a 2022 grad, I have been feeling a lot of emotions, and anxiety about graduating. However, I am slowly conquering it and realizing it’s going to be okay. Here are a few things I am doing to make sure I can face each day.
Realize it’s okay to be EMOTIONAL
Graduating is an emotional ceremony, but the entire process is emotionally draining and gives you highs and lows. Realizing an entire chapter of your life is closing is terrifying, to say the least. For most of our lives, our schedules have revolved around school and our focus has always been on the next academic level. But now that pressure and schedule are gone. It’s okay to be emotional about leaving your dorm, friends, and academic life that you have built. It’s okay to cry, laugh, and remember everything you have lived through (including a global pandemic!). It’s okay to be mad that the pandemic took away some of your experiences. It is all okay to feel.
Manage your stress in a healthy way
Finals, moving, saying goodbye, and so many other things are thrown upon graduates within their last few weeks. It’s a stressful time! Find some simple things to help you relax and take some time for self-care during these last few weeks. Make sure you are eating proper meals, taking small exercise and non-screen breaks, and enjoy being with your friends.
At least think about your new life
I know it’s tempting to push away all thoughts of post-grad life and work, but it is important to at least recognize them. I am thankful to have a post-grad job lined up, but it is okay if you don’t. Maybe start with a small planner to figure out how you are starting your new life.
Realize this is not the end, only the beginning
Your story does not end when your academic career ends, in-fact it only is the start. You are now your own person, and are able to simply do whatever you want! Whether you want a nine to five, go traveling, or thinking of going back to grad school the best thing to realize is that it is your choice! You are now entering a new chapter of your life, and you have a great college degree to help you along your path.
Set Boundaries
Everyone is going to be asking you a ton of questions. “When are you gonna settle down?”, “What’s next”, “What are you gonna do next year?”, “What about after your Disney College Program?”. To be blunt, I do not even know what I will be doing next week… how would I know what I’m going to do in nine months. I get people are curious, but please realize you are entitled to boundaries. Also, you should not be pressured to share graduation tickets, information, and post-grad stuff with people who do not care about you. Know your boundaries, and realize keeping these will only relieve anxiety and stress on your big day!