Four years (or maybe five) we as young high school graduates embarked on a journey of a lifetime... college.
Everyone told us it will fly by just like high school so make sure you have fun. And boy, were they right. College was a blast. Let's be honest— we had minimal responsibilities, alcohol was abundant, class was optional, and boring was not in our vocabulary. But as much fun as we had after those four/five years you suddenly wake up one day and you're graduating.
You were kinda ready for it but also kinda scared. Everyone is so excited around you (probably to get you off their payroll) but the room is full of congratulations and cheer because you just walked across the stage and received a $120,000 price of paper. Woohoo!!!
A couple of days go by after the cheers settle and everyone's gone home...it suddenly hits...what the fuck am I going to do for the rest of my life?
Like no, like, really, THE REST OF MY LIFE.
You see, we go to elementary, middle, high school then college and that's all planned. You have a schedule, someone telling you what to do, telling you what to read, and then it all just stops after 17-18 years, it just stops. Now the world is looking at you. But you don't know what to do, you're just 22, we can still barely remember that darks don't go with whites.
The next natural course of action is to apply for jobs of course... I mean again we gotta find something to do with the rest of our lives, right?
But what no one tells you is that finding a job SUCKS!
For those of us who weren't so lucky to be handed a job by daddy's company, we have to go out and hustle in hopes some staffing company who messaged you on LinkedIn hopefully offers you 30k. But the reality is no one wants or expects to do that. We all expect to graduate with this shiny piece of 120k paper and have jobs thrown at us that offer at least 50k. Well, guess what... ain't gonna happen.
What no one tells you is that those companies want experience, but how do you get experience when no one will take a Chance on you?
How do you make yourself stand out in a room full of other people who also have shiny new degrees? It SUCKS. What no one tells you is that even when you do find a job you are at the will of the employer and they can decide you're "not a good fit" at any given point in time. What no one tells you is that adulting sucks and we should've all stayed in college till they kicked us out.
At some point in a young graduate's job hunt, all of this will hit.
It hits hard and you feel really low. It can consume you and beat you down into a constant spiral of thoughts that all end with "Why am I not enough?" But you are so you're just confused.
All those internships, that 3.4 GPA you worked your ass off for, none of it feels enough.
But what no one tells you is that it's going to be okay. What they should tell you is that life is hard — when you have just graduated it's easy to get stuck in a replay of all the fun times you had during college, but the truth is that if you think back you probably felt overwhelmed, scared, and depressed at some point in your college career too. It's all a mind game. Don't run back to those thoughts because it's easy. Tell yourself that you will find a job and that you can be successful because what no one tells you is that YOU CAN BE A BOSS ASS BITCH NO MATTER HOW MANY EMPLOYERS TELL YOU NO.
You got this.
If you are in this rut just remember that there is something for everyone. It may take a couple of really shitty jobs to find your dream job but you will get there.
What I am telling you... young graduate to young graduate is I'm here with you, you're not alone, and you got this.
