To all the future graduates, calm down and take a breath. You’re going to be ok. Yes, you.
Graduation is fast approaching and there is a lot going on. Caps, gowns, finals week, and, most likely, a lot of packing. Packing your entire life up to leave directly after the graduation ceremony ends.
This is both a thrilling and baffling time, filling students’ brains with angst, exhaustion and excitement, which can be draining to try and navigate during these last few weeks on campus.
College graduation is one of the most important days of a person’s life — getting that diploma and walking across the stage is the exact validation students have been waiting for most of their young adult lives.
Yes, it is a milestone in a student’s life, but this achievement also brings certain amounts of grief and anxiety with it.
“What do you plan to do after you graduate?” is a commonly asked question that not a single college student can answer without twitching or going into fight-or-flight mode.
If the idea of what the day, week, month or year after graduation looks like is a mystery, that’s OK. There are worse things in life than not having the next fifty steps of your life planned out. And, sometimes, things just don’t work out the way you plan, and that’s OK, too.
Society puts tremendous pressure on students — especially soon-to-be graduates — to figure out their entire lives and have it planned out by the minute. In reality, no one is that prepared, and no one needs to be.
This massive triumph should not be minimized or ruined by anxiety about what’s coming next. Enjoy the day. Walk that stage with swagger. Take that piece of paper from President Houston Davis and bask in the recognition.
It’s special to have something that shows exactly what you’ve accomplished in such a short time. Three or four years is nothing when you’re 70, just saying.
Of course, it’s a priority as graduation inches closer to begin the dreadful job hunt, which can be daunting for those who struggled simply to find an internship — at least this time, the job will pay and maybe even have benefits, if you’re lucky.
A college degree does not automatically mean work will be found, but during that search, there will be a few constants in your life. You will carry the people you networked with, the friends you made and the knowledge you learned forever. Or at least on your LinkedIn forever.
College is about more than just getting your degree. That’s the goal, but it’s not the only thing one will gain from the experience.
Relationships, memories and lessons have been made during these pivotal years on campus, and obsessing over the “what’s next?” will only drive you mad. Don’t do that to yourself.
So, relish in the fact that graduation is all about YOU. Appreciate the journey you have been on and the challenges you faced along the way. That’s what college should be about, anyway.