For all of those going into their fourth and final year of college, I'm sure I can speak for the majority when saying, "How the hell did we get here already?" Time to stress like we did in high school all over again! Whether you are looking into grad schools or know that you are going to have a million and one things on your plate these last two semesters of your college career. It's true what they say, college is the best time of your life, but it flies by way too fast. For all of you out there stressing like I am here are the top 10 things on my mind about this school year that may be worth a few minutes of thought:
1. Grad school or no?
When it comes to post bachelor's education there are a lot of things to look into when you're researching this subject. One pro of post bachelor's education can be that you don't have to start paying back your loans right away! But a con of this can also be staying in school, more loans, more debt and all that good stuff.
2. GRE's, Boards, BOC's and all those other cool post grad tests
For those of us out there that chose professions that require us to take an exam to qualify us as "certified" in our field of practice, time to start studying. The test that can determine that next big step for you and set you up for your dream career.
3. "Adulting"
What does this even mean? From grocery shopping, to cleaning a home, laundry and paying bills. Yes, most of us have done this while away at school, but now that we won't be living on our college diets and living on our own we're suddenly supposed to be more responsible and on top of these things.
4. Paying back loans and debt
Time to stop ignoring all of those pieces of mail about taxes and loans you get in your campus mailbox— the ones we usually defer to Mum or Dad, and time to start understanding what's going on with our financial standing.
5. Finding a "good" job
We all want to make that six figure salary coming right out of school, but what happened to finding a job that we love doing, as well as having the salary we desire?
6. Where to live, roommates, boyfriends/ girlfriends (the whole nine)
In an ideal world, the majority of us would get our own house, decorate it how we want and live happily ever after, right? Wrong! A lot of us will probably move back home with our parents while we "figure things out" or move in with a significant other and struggle to meet monthly rent deadlines.
7. What next?
What now? Where do we go from here? What do we do from here?
8. The classic "senioritis"
Once winter break hits for most of us that "senioritis" light bulb will light up and as hard as we try and fight it to continue being productive, it is just an unstoppable force. The lazy sets in! But that's okay because we're all about to have a world filled with responsibilities after graduation, right?
9. Saying goodbye to (hopefully) life long friends
Cue the waterworks, this is when it starts to feel all too real. The friends you have made over these past four years will no longer be the friends/family you see more than your own blood once we leave our campuses.
10. Graduation
The end all be all! When we say goodbye to the school that has (hopefully) given us so much and that we hope one day our children will have that same experience too, wherever they decide to go. Where we say goodbye to the place that taught us the only things that our parents couldn't. And where we say goodbye to the place that we loved to call our second home!
So to all my class of 2017 graduates, I want to wish us good luck, and hope this turns out to be the best year of our lives!
