When spring time weather comes around and the snow is off the ground, many undergraduate students look forward to summer break and the promise that comes with it. However for senior year students, summertime is no longer the fun that it was. It's the encroaching sense of what will they do once they walk across the stage in May to receive their diploma, how they'll do it, or if graduate school is an option. In considering these anxieties of graduation and of the future, many seniors will experience one of these 3 existential crises in considering (or fearing) their future after college:

1. "Oh god, I never studied abroad/went out on the internship! I feel so uncultured/unqualified! Who's going to hire me with no knowledge of the world!"

These ideas tend to go hand in hand because the idea is that travel and having the experience of being in the workplace before even having your degree seems to be an idealistic resume builder, a sure-fire way of getting that entry level job. Let's not forget, your first job, realistically, when you graduate, will be an entry level job. You don't need a fancy trip to a foreign country or time spent sorting paperwork and other busy work at the job you hope to get to get hired by out of college. A strong resume and CV is what will get you far. Remember the work you did in school, write it all down, and that's what hiring personnel will remember about you. A letter of recommendation or two doesn't hurt either.

2. "Transcendentalism... Hmm... Thoreau had it right just living in the woods, maybe I should do that."

I may sound like I'm preaching a parent's worst nightmare for their college student, but their fears shouldn't be invalid. Sure, it's a nice idea to get away from it all, considering you've just spent the past four years sitting in a tight little desk, listening to lecture after lecture, pulling all-nighters, and jamming your brain with loads of information that may seem tedious. But as inviting as the idea is, why would you, as a college student, put yourself through all of that to drop it and then struggle to pay off your debts? Remember to be proud of your work, and that the fantasy of going "off the grid" isn't worth the debt collectors coming after you when it's time to pay up!

3. "I'm never going to see my friends again, they're all off getting their dream jobs/going to graduate school, and I'm stuck here still figuring it out."

You may have a diploma in your hand, but it's not a magic piece of paper that inspires the thought of exactly what you'll do for the rest of your life. Do yourself a favor when these thoughts cross your mind: talk to your parents and other older family members, ask them how many times they've changed jobs over their lifetime. Some may say they knew exactly what they were going to do for the rest of their life, others will tell you they've bounced around the working world their whole life (my mother went from telecommunication to medical technician, big jump right?).

No one can say they had it all figured out at the age of college graduation, so don't panic. And don't be discouraged by those who do have it figured out. Become inspired by their goals to create some of your own and put that to good use when you go out looking for your first job!

So don't sweat the small stuff. You have the rest of your life now, which is a lot longer than the four years you've had, so enjoy the time you have left and have a little fun!