It has been 17 years. We have spent 17 years being students.
17 years of essays, exams, quizzes, projects, notecards, lectures, classrooms, teachers.
We have spent 17 years being told how to write, that we need to study more. Told what to do, how to dress, how to act, who to be.
17 years. That is a long freaking time.
We are now graduated. We are finally done being told what to do. No more studying, no more exams, none of it. Holy sh*t.
That begs the question: What do we do now?
Get a job? Move out? Start our lives? Start dating?
If you are in the same boat as me, you have no idea where to start. Here are 100 things to do after you graduate:
1. Read a book.
2. Go on a road trip.
3. Go on a hike.
4. Get a gym membership.
5. Actually use that gym membership.
6. Find a hobby.
7. Watch TED Talks.
8. Binge watch an entire Netflix season in one day.
9. Get a pet.
10. Hang out with your parents.
11. Get stupid drunk in your favorite bar.
12. Don't get out of bed all day.
13. Go shopping.
14. Go to the beach.
15. Change your hair.
16. Wine taste.
17. Go to the movies.
18. Go to the zoo.
19. Learn to play an instrument.
20. Tell the person you love that you love them.
21. Tell the person you hate that you hate them.
22. Go to Taco Bell, McDonald's, and Burger King in one car ride.
23. Take a drive at night for no reason.
24. Go do everything you used to do as a teenager again.
25. Do something that will get your adrenaline rushing.
26. Remember that you don't have to rush into your life.
27. Go to a baseball game.
28. Reconnect with someone from your past.
29. Listen to your old iPod.
30. Look at old photos.
31. Get a job.
32. Don't get a job.
33. Move out of your parent's house.
34. Mooch off your parents a little more.
35. Act like an adult.
36. Act like a child.
37. Play board games.
38. Do yoga.
39. Lay out in the sun.
40. Learn to drive a stick shift.
41. Go to a music festival.
42. Go to as many concerts as you can.
43. Seriously, music is life.
44. Ooh, get a record player.
45. Start collecting records.
46. Keep a journal.
47. Watch your favorite movie.
48. Have a Harry Potter movie marathon.
49. Go to Vegas.
50. Don't die in Vegas.
51. Start to invest.
52. Find a sugar daddy/momma.
53. Do a bar crawl.
54. Don't stress the little things.
55. Cook your favorite meal with your mom.
56. Relax.
57. Go to a spa.
58. Get a massage.
59. Go bowling.
60. Go to your high school and see your favorite teacher.
61. Buy a plane ticket somewhere you have always wanted to go.
62. Seriously, TRAVEL. TRAVEL. TRAVEL.
63. Sleep in.
64. Get a tattoo.
65. Get a piercing.
66. Stay in touch with your college friends.
67. Skydive.
68. Bungee jump.
69. Get out of your comfort zone.
70. Take your dog on a walk.
71. Go to the bar, a lot.
72. Fall in love.
73. Put down your phone.
74. Redecorate your room.
75. Just go to Ikea because it's fun.
76. Watch the news. I promise it is not "fake news."
77. Try new food.
78. Plan a reunion with your friends from high school.
79. Give back to your community.
80. Craft.
81. Start a collection.
82. Taste different beer.
83. Start a blog.
84. Be nice to people.
85. Don't take life too serious.
86. Start saving money,
87. Spend the money you don't have.
88. Be a "yes" man.
89. Have a BBQ.
90. Buy a hydro flask.
91. Go to Hawaii.
92. Frame your diploma.
93. Paint.
94. Get outside.
95. Go downtown.
96. Do whatever the hell you want.
97. Don't let anyone tell you what to do.
98. Don't let anyone tell you who to be.
99. Stand up for yourself.
100. Live your life, and love it.
There is no right answer for what to do after you graduate.
Create the life you have always wanted. This is the first time you have the freedom to do so.
