Spring graduation is quickly approaching and the real world is coming with it. But, even though the commencement date is right around the corner, for some reason it doesn’t feel real. I mean, we have been going to school since we were five and now it’s time to step out of this lifetime routine and into a brand-new stage of life. These questions keep racing through my mind, Well, now what am I supposed to do? Am I ready? Has my education prepared me? Where am I going to go?
It’s a scary transition for most, and especially me. One second I am wishing and praying for graduation day to be here, already, so I can move onto something new. But, there are times my head shifts completely, to wishing that I had more time in college and to make each day of college I have left worth it.
When you get to your early 20s no one told you that you would still feel like a teenager. I remember growing up and thinking of how old I thought someone was at 22. And now that I am actually there I realize how off my perception was.
Being that in a few short months I am supposed to start my life completely on my own, I can't help but think I am not ready. For the past 17 years, I have been in school and now it's time to change that pattern and enter the career world. There are so many students who immediately continue into graduate school straight out of undergraduate, and I think it's because it's an already figured out next step. We’ve have been going to school for the majority of our lives and might as well continue into the next schooling system. But, the problem with this is that if you don't mesh experience with your academics then it creates an imbalance.
For me, I know I am not ready for graduate school because I am not completely sure or set on what exactly I want to do. I believe that graduate school is to help further the specific career path that you take and if you aren't exactly sure about that path then grad school is a waste of time and money.
But, when you are in college it is not like your professors are telling you exactly what to do, like in high school. They tell you that you need a killer resume, but don’t help you achieve that or how to exactly get it. The career world is completely different than the academic world and I am not sure that academics actually fully prepare any college student for the real world. Because when you get to college it's all up to you.
In the real world, there are no deadlines that teachers are reminding you about or guidelines that need to be met. Suddenly, everything becomes what you make of it. It’s all up to you.
To answer the repeating question, what am I supposed to do now? Well, the most honest answer is, whatever you want. You have the ability to make your life into whatever you want and this is the time to do it. Graduation is the celebration of the completion of one stage and the beginning of another. Embrace it all. And remember -- nothing will work unless you do.
