You’re approaching the end of your sophomore year and have to start thinking about life after college. It feels like you just moved in yesterday, meeting your new roommate for the first time and trying to figure out what buildings your classes are in. Everyone tells you college will fly by, but it’s hard to listen when you’ve still got four great years ahead of you. Now you only have two years left and the thought of applying for jobs or graduate school begins to suffocate you. Here are some stages of dealing with the midpoint of your undergraduate career.
1. Questioning every decision you’ve made so far.
Should you have applied for more internships? Are you studying what you are most passionate about? What if you don’t make any money? Are you supposed to find your soulmate before senior year? Should you have worked harder in that class so your professor could write a recommendation letter? What if that boy you stopped talking to after the first semester becomes famous and you missed your chance?
2. Attempting to plan your future.
You can live anywhere you want. Go travel and see the world, or dive straight into a career. There are so many exciting opportunities to pursue: Graduate school, the Peace Corps, Fulbright grants, and other fellowships and jobs. These all require highly skilled, intelligent, or passionate people, and maybe your resume isn’t quite up to par…
3. Giving up and searching for jobs that don’t require a college degree.
Being in customer service your whole life won’t be that bad right? You could start your own bakery in a small Vermont town and surely that will be just as lucrative as the Masters degree you’re working towards now.
4. Focusing more on what’s happening now.
Thinking about the future is too hard, and so much could change. The start of your junior year will bring many great memories with it, from moving into your first apartment to taking more interesting, focused classes. Give yourself time to enjoy where you are and what you have accomplished so far.
5. Calling your mom.
When everything becomes too much for you to handle, you can always call your mom, or dad, to feel better about life. Parents have a way of easing your worries, like sharing their own experiences of how they had no idea what to do with their lives in college either. Seeing how successful and awesome your parents turned out gives you hope for your own future. You are never too old to call a parent and talk out life problems.
Yeah, two years of college have already gone by, but you still have two more amazing years to look forward to experiencing. Live in the moment and enjoy it while it lasts, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself to make this the best four years of your life. Everything will work out after you graduate, and more great adventures ad memories are to come. Relax, stop stressing, and dominate your final college years.
