I feel like during my whole collegiate career I have anticipated the day I will walk across that stage and make my parents proud as I earned my undergraduate degree. All the long nights of studying and pretty much writing a thesis on things I will probably never remember let alone use in life will all be finally worth it. No more sleepless nights, no more papers, tests, or pop quizzes. No more sitting in classes that are irrelevant to my life. I am finally almost freaking done. NOW WHAT?
Now that I am so close to being finished I get the “What are you going to once you graduate” question. Each time I think in my head that’s honestly a good question because I have no idea. Seeing how I am seven months from walking across that stage into adulthood I should probably figure it out. So I began my quest on what to do with the rest of my life. This process is stressful, and most people figure since you have been in college for four years studying a particular area you should know what you want to do. Yes, but anyone who is a international studies major like me will understand how broad the options are. Sometimes too many options can be so overwhelming and you just end up not doing anything. I guess being an adult means having to make decisions, but right now I have seriously put those decisions off.
After doing some research I realized that trying to get a job in your actual area of study takes some strategic planning. When I say strategic planning I mean internships that more than likely don’t pay you just so you can get a year of “specialized training”. First off, I must say unpaid internships are a modern day form of slavery. Why would a job ask me to work 40 plus hours for free? Life isn’t free, I’m paying to live, I have to eat, heck it cost me money just to breathe. Then, of course, there are graduate schools. I mean of course that’s an option but then I would have to take out more loans and be in debt for the rest of my life like that’s just what I need!
At this point I’m just stuck, I don’t know whether I want to go left or right and what if I go down the wrong road and can’t turn back from it. It’s too much and too stressful. Who came up with the idea that at 22-years-old my whole life and career has to be planned out as soon as I graduate. That feeling gives me so much anxiety and I’m 1,000% sure most soon-to-be college graduates feel the exact same way. I wish someone had told me “adulting” is not instantaneous. Instead of me trying to figure out the rest of my life in 7 months I should be enjoying the little bit of time I have left in college. I will never get these years back, from the long nights partying to the mid-day naps, I’m done taking those things for granted by being in a constant state of stress. I have the rest of my life to work and become an adult with actual responsibilities. Right now, I’m going to enjoy my cheap wine, my mid-day naps, and stick to playing adult and not actually completely being one right now. So please refrain from asking me all the time, “What am I going to do after college” because it just stresses me out, and I’m trying to enjoy my last seven months of being a young, wild and careless college student!
Sincerely,
A stressed out soon-to-be college graduate.
