So here you are, ready to take on the world, shiny new diploma in hand.

Let me be one of many to say that I'm proud of you. You've made it this far: you're well-educated in your potential career path, and you're ready to contribute to the world. If you're anything like me, graduation has you filled with optimism, convinced of your own promise and fully aware of your capabilities. Let's talk a little bit about what the road ahead looks like.

The real world is exciting! It's filled with the endless potential of dollar signs and new liberties. You will totally feel like an adult in line at Trader Joe's with a bottle of wine in hand, dressed in your blazer and chino pants with pumps and a designer handbag on your way home from your first adult interview. You'll pay your own credit card bill and feel a sense of achievement when you sign on the dotted line for your first official, paid-for-by-yours-truly, car. Then there's the apartment lease, the furniture shopping, the Waze-commute-calculating, and it goes on. Onto the next grand, new adventure.

You should feel the anticipation building inside of you. These are special times. These are times of newfound independence and self-assertion. But, as you may have guessed by now, this isn't all fun and games. You're going to feel like a failure for the next couple of years more often than you feel like a success. So, revel in that diploma now...because it's likely going to be your greatest achievement for the next five years.

That's not a bad thing, though. You're in new, career-building times. You're going to mess up. You're not going to climb the ladder as quickly as you think you will. Honestly, in this economy, you may be jobless for a while. Remember that you're never too good for any job, especially not when you're desperate for employment. You might find yourself where I did upon graduation: interning at an agency, living at home, and making $10 an hour.

Don't worry, kid. This too shall pass.

You'll almost get jobs, and lose them at the last second. I had a second interview with a company that was very interested in me, and then got a cancellation email just a few days before saying that the company no longer was hiring for that position. You'll work hard to prove yourself and you'll be overlooked. I was pretty much guaranteed a job at a start-up after doing contract work for the company for six months. At the last minute, I was thrown into a writing competition and lost the entire gig out to a more seasoned writer. Remember, this is life. You are not entitled to anything.

You're going to miss a few important events because of your job. That's okay. A work-life balance is integral, but most of the people in your life who truly love you are going to understand that you're trying to build your future. They'll cut you slack. I had to cancel my 22nd birthday dinner because of a deadline. My family understood--we just postponed the dinner to the next week. These kinds of things aren't as big a deal to those around you as you think they are.

Relax.

The years ahead are filled with adventure, excitement, failure and disappointment. The only steady will be change. If you think you found yourself in college, just wait for who you discover yourself to be at the end of this road. I graduated with a degree in marketing and told myself I was going to write Super Bowl advertisements at Wieden+Kennedy. I work for a small company within the oil industry now. I couldn't be doing anything more opposite than what I set out to do, but I love my job. I love who I'm turning out to be. My dreams have changed, and they will continue to do so.

You'll change, but you'll stay the same. I write more than I ever have before. I bought my first car in March--and was I practical? Of course not. I haven't been practical since the day I entered this world. I got a Mustang. She ain't made for practicality, yeah I guess she's just like me. Stay young at heart. Stay true to who you are, but allow yourself to mold and change and evolve until you become the best possible version of you.

You will change this world, whether your impact be micro or macro. As you grow older, you will discover that you know less and less about more and more and more and more about less and less. If you're successful at all, you'll learn to take yourself less seriously. There is tremendous joy in this life, and far too little time to get your knickers in a twist over things that are inconsequential in the long run.

Surround yourself with positive people and eliminate those from your life who are not. I know your sorority sister has been your best friend since rush week freshman year, but if she's tearing you down, tell her "thanks for the memories" and cut all ties. In the years ahead, you will desperately need people who lift you up and propel you on the road to joy. Manipulative people who love to play the victim are not welcome in your future.

Remember that the best days of your life are still ahead of you. Peace, love and freedom are the only three things you need; if your heart's in the right place, you can feel those fruits and virtues no matter where you are in life. Don't let people tell you where you should be. Follow the pace that your life has set and constantly push yourself to be the best version of you. Pour into the people who have always been there for you. Give back--because you've been given much, and it's a privilege to contribute just a drop in the ocean that's carried you to where you are now.

There is so much beauty in the world ahead of you--so much excitement and opportunity. You've only touched the cusp of what's waiting for you out there. You've only seen a glimpse of the world around you. You have only explored one corner of your soul. What's waiting ahead is painful, terrifying, heartbreaking and infuriating--but over it all remains joy, joy, joy. Grab hold of that joy and let it be your focus.

Life is too short to allow anger, heartbreak, fear and pain to be thieves of that joy.

Here's looking at you, kid. Frame that diploma, wear that college ring with pride, and go show the world what you're made of.

Sincerely,

Chrissy, TAMU-CC class of 2015

Go 'Ders, and Soli Deo Gloria!