Dear second semester senior,
Wow. Graduation really snuck up on us, didn’t it? I’m sure a dozen questions are going through your head right now. What am I going to do with my degree? Do I have enough on my resume to get me a job? Where do I want to live after college? Am I ready for the real world?
Or maybe you’re one of the lucky few who already knows all of that. I sit here writing this post envious of my two roommates who both already have jobs in Boston and New York. They’re getting ready to live up their last semesters without a care in the world, while I’m drowning in job applications and cover letters, hoping to get straight A’s this last semester to boost my GPA one last time.
We watched as all the first-year students rolled in and settled into their on-campus dormitories this past fall. They’re young and fresh with so much ahead of them in their college experience. We can’t help but see them all and reminisce back to our freshman years and think about how far we’ve come, about how it’s all coming to an end.
At this point in college we’re supposed to feel accomplished and excited to start the next chapter of our lives. We’ve made it four years through 8 a.m. classes, capstone papers and dreadful weeks of finals, while at the same time balancing extracurricular activities and a social life on top of it all. We’re basically super humans at this point for even making it to graduation.
But most of us are feeling a bittersweet sensation of excitement and fear. College was great. It was a time to explore yourself and discover your passions in life. You got to pick a path you’re interested in following instead of having the required math, English, history and language classes like you did in high school. Maybe you even got to study abroad and open your eyes to new parts of the world. It makes sense that we are feeling scared to leave this secure bubble that gave us so many great experiences and begin the transition into “adulthood.”
“Adulthood.” What a scary word. It may seem scary now but I guarantee we will love the post-grad life as soon as we figure everything out. Just think about it. No more relying entirely on your parents, living in your own apartment in a new city that you’re free to explore on your own, and finally opening up to new people outside of the same old college bubble. Sounds pretty great to me, don’t you think?
So, while it may all be coming to an end, we can only look back and be thankful for the opportunities that we have had. As much as I’m sure we’d all love another year at college, it’s time to start the next chapter of our lives (plus, we’ve all heard that your mid-20s are the best years of your lives so let’s live it up). I assure you “adulthood” may just be the best time of your life.
