Life after college can be stressful–no one knows what the hell to do with their time, and quarter-life-crises threaten your sanity nearly every day. Stay calm, try to breathe, and utter “there’s no place like home”, in the hopes of returning to Kansas, often. You are going to be okay Dorothy, we’ve complied a list of things that you can do to help you find your home.

Join the Workforce

There’s always the option of settling into a cheap apartment somewhere and getting a job. It doesn’t matter if it’s a crappy fast food restaurant job or the highest-scale lab job that you always dreamed of having, you just have to make money. “The Almighty Dollar” rules the world (cue the O’Jays), so unless you were born in a cash-loaded family, you’d need to get a job eventually. Should you choose to only work after graduating college, you can throw your whole self into it. Making money for The Man sounds like a great way to spend your years, especially because that’s exactly what those four years of undergraduate studies were for, right? All pessimism and jokes aside, do your best to get a job you love, because life is short and it will go by in the blink of an eye.

Continue Your (College) Sentence

Graduate School: Staying in school is always an option, whether that is because you have a career path in mind and it requires a higher degree or because you are unsure of the specific direction within your field that you want your future to go in and you need the time and experience to mold yourself into a more decisive individual. Just know that embarking on a graduate school journey is a commitment, as it will take two to four years to be completed and entails the fulfillment of upwards of 32 credits. For example, UAlbany has over 125 graduate degree programs to choose from, each offering students extensive learning experiences to broaden their horizons intellectually and professionally, so pick your poison and gulp it responsibly.

Join A Certificate Program: If you’re worried about committing yourself to another two-to-four plus years of education, but still want to learn interesting things, apply for a certificate program. Certificate programs are short (around 15 credits), and can be completed in about a year. They are usually designed with working professionals in mind, so you can complete the program while still honoring The Man. The University at Albany has over 30 graduate certificate programs ranging from Information Security to International Health and Human Rights. Take the classes, meet the credits and hang that slip of paper on your fridge-- your mother will be so proud.

Auditing Classes: If you are one of the many individuals who feel like a baby bird flopping out of the nest for the very first time upon graduation, then maybe auditing a few graduate classes without committing to a program is better for you. This will allow you to dabble in a variety of different disciplines without having to put a ring on it (a degree program). You will gain an insight into what is expected of you in graduate level classes, while being granted the opportunity to explore which fields better interest you and which do not.

See the World

When the above options don’t suit your needs, take time to travel. When is there going to be another period in your life when you have a substantial amount of “free” time? Take $500 and invest it in a road trip across the country, or take $5,000 and travel across the world. Visiting global landmarks and seeing how others live is very humbling, and can also provide a wonderful means of self-exploration. Hopefully, you’ll learn things about yourself that you didn’t know were even in the realm of possibility. With this new information, you may be lucky enough to have an existential crisis, in which case, please refer to the following section.

Allow the Tears to Flow

When in doubt or when all else fails sobbing into your pillow is a secret option--most people don’t know about it, but it is there. Equip yourself with tissues, chocolate, ice cream, and (once you are feeling less depressed) a hard liquor, curl up into your blankets, turn on Netflix and let those salty drops of translucent liquid roll. There is no shame is sporting those red, puffy rings around your eyeballs, just tell people you got dust or a piece of emotion in your eye-- it’s all good. On a serious note, after graduating, most people feel the need or desire to shed a tear or 20 and that is perfectly okay. This portion of your life is one of the most uncertain and unstable (up until this point) and releasing the tension with a good cry doesn’t make you weak. Remember you are not alone here Dorothy, you have the TinMan, the Scarecrow and the Lion by your side.

(Co-written with Sarah Heath)