I may only have one online class left before I graduate, but I considered this summer my first summer after college. At first I thought it wouldn't be different from any other summer, but it is. You realize that you won't be going back to campus in the fall when all your friends are, you realize that the next phase of your life is apartment hunting and job hunting and "adulating." It can be a scary time but after a summer I realized that my time on campus is done and that I'm ready for this next adventure in my life.
The great thing about your first summer after college is that you still have your college friends but you have more freedom than you did in college because you are practically done with school all you have to focus on is doing a good job at work. So if you're like me and are in the next phase of your life after college, this article is definitely for you!
1. You won't keep in contact with everyone
You probably won't keep in contact with everyone like you thought you would and that's OK. Sure you will keep up with your best friends from college but there will be those you won't talk to everyday like you did on campus! You can root from them from a far like they are probably rooting for you, but sometimes it's just hard to keep in contact with so many people when you're not living on the same floor with them.
2. Work work work work work
After you start to finish up with school, all you will find yourself doing is working. I didn't work that much in college but now I find myself getting up at 6 a.m. and working weekends and week days most of the time. Saving up for an apartment isn't cheap and if you don't work you'll probably be really bored. I know personally that if I even have two days off from work I start to get really bored and need something to do. And it's okay if you don't find something in your field right away, lots of kids work jobs they don't really want to work until they find something in their field!
3. It's okay to visit
It's okay to visit your college best friends! Believe it not, you can go back and visit the people you cared most about. However, try not to make a habit of it, even though you loved your campus, one day they'll be gone, and you'll find yourself having a hard time letting go. But when they want you to visit and you have time, go for it, spend the weekend with your favorite college friends. They miss you and want you to come visit, Adult schedules aren't always easy to work around but if you were lucky enough to make some really great friends in college make time to go visit them!
4. You have to follow your parents' rules
Since you've moved back home you're probably living with your parents again. After being away at school for so long it can be hard to find that balance when you move back home, but your parents' rules are still your parent's rules. Listen to them they probably know more and just want what's best. Until we move out on our own we go by what they say to do. So if that means no late night Denny's runs then that's what that means, but usually it just means do the dishes and clean up after yourself!
5. You're going to wish you had one more year left
No matter how bad you were dying to get be done with school, the moment you realize you're not going back in the fall you'll wish you had one more semester. So don't waste your time wishing your college years away. I had friends and adults telling me that you'll wish you had more time and they were right. So make the most of the time you have. Go out and learn all you can and make some great friends, Those four years go by quicker than you think.
College was such a great experience for me. I made some of the best friends of my life, and after I realized I wouldn't be moving back in this fall I wanted to write an article for those just like me who are trying to figured out the next phase of their life after college. So if you think you're the only the only one whose felt this way, you're not alone. "Adulting" as they say now, is hard, but we're all in this together.
