The Hopes And Fears Of The Graduating Class Of 2016
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The Hopes And Fears Of The Graduating Class Of 2016

"You is kind, you is smart, and you is important."

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The Hopes And Fears Of The Graduating Class Of 2016

Spring term.

If you're graduating, it brings up a lot of questions and a lot of reservations. Are you going to be happy? Will you find your dream job? What the f*ck is success, anyway?

Keep calm and take a second to read these fears and dreams of the class of 2016, and know, at the end of the day, that you will find that job that inspires you, and that person that loves you, and you will—believe it or not—be happy.


Fears

Not graduating in June.

For every college senior, this is a fear that continues to grow each day that they get closer and closer to graduation. As your formal education comes to an end, you spend a lot more time calculating the minimum grades you need to receive your diploma and figuring out a fall-back plan if it all goes to sh*t.

And as the warm and promising days of spring and summer creep forward, the temptation to skip class and enjoy a cold beer on a warm day drives these graduating fears over the edge; you realize that all it takes is one bad class and you'll be stuck here indefinitely.

Just remember that you made it this far: 10 more weeks and you will be a full-fledged citizen of the Big, Bad World.

Not finding a job... Or working at a job you hate.

This is probably the most debilitating fear for graduating seniors: the idea that you are completely unqualified for any job. And more than that, the fear that the only jobs you are qualified for will render you miserable for the latter portion of your 20s.

Whether you score your dream job right out of college or you spend a year waiting tables and crying about your dying dreams, remember that you will find your niche and people with the same amazing passions and you will grow a career that you're proud of.

And be sure to keep in mind that the crappy job you took at a new, chic diner waiting tables will help you break free from student loan debt and allow you the time to save money for that downtown apartment you've been dreaming of or that new car you've been eyeing for years.

Being broke when all of your friends are finding success.

Thanks to social media, it's easy to feel inadequate. As you roll into your mid-20s, your friends start getting engaged, getting married, and getting pregnant, and you're still getting drunk on a Tuesday afternoon trying to decide how much you can spend on liquor and still pay rent.

Post-graduation will bring a lot of self-comparisons, trying to decide which of your friends is the most successful and which is doing worse than you; you'll probably spend many nights drinking wine and crying about your wasted degree as you scroll through Facebook, stalking all of your high school friends and their "perfect lives."

Missing out on all of the things that you planned to do before 30.

So, you probably want to travel? Live abroad for a year? Spend six months off the grid in South America? Join the Peace Corps for 18 months?

If you're at the cross-roads of your education and adult life, you've probably considered taking a year off and figuring out who you are and what your place is in the world. And, you're probably worried that if you don't take a year off, you'll never get to do any of these.

Don't freak out; even if you're stuck in a lame job after college, eventually you will get paid time off and can go to that far away country where you can eat insects and native foods and forget about your disappointing life back in America.

Being happy.

It goes without saying that this is probably the biggest fear facing graduating seniors: being happy.

Happiness, like success, is defined differently by everybody: whether it's the amount of money you make, the number of friends you surround yourself with, or the general direction of your life, many of us worry that we will never find our own kind of happiness.

But fear not; you is kind, you is smart, and you is important, and you will be happy.

Hopes

Realizing all of the potential everyone told you you had.

All of your life, your parents and closest loved ones have been filling your head with the idea that you are chock full of potential and that potential will one day be realized.

As you graduate and move into the real world, and you find success and happiness in different areas of your life, you'll begin to recognize all of the potential that everyone else saw in you and begin to believe in yourself.

Finding your dream job... Or at least, the job that inspires you.

Fear not, my friends.

Eventually, one day, you'll stumble across a job that fits every desire and requirement you have and, whether it is the job you have always dreamed of or simply a job that inspires you to be the best you can be, this will be the job that takes the best of your skills, the best of your personality, and allows you to impress not only you superiors, but yourself.

Soon, you'll be on social media, scrolling through images and posts of promotions and raises and success, and—I promise you—you will fit right in.

To love and be loved... for all of your flawlessness and imperfections.

Perhaps,less spoken of is the hope that we may find the one we're meant to be with—or even the one we want to be with.

When graduation peaks on the horizon, we come to some realization that one day we will find the one we're meant to grow old with, the one who is meant to love us when we're old, and wrinkly, and a little more cynical of the world. We seek out our soulmate, whatever that means to us, and we settle into our own little version of weirdness.

And, despite all of the hardness of the adult world, you will, against all unbelievable odds—and despite what the romantic comedies want you to believe—you will find the one who is meant to love you and all of your weirdness and imperfections.

Becoming the person you were meant to be, by your own rules.

As we move from the sheltered world of our parents to the strange reality of the real world, we seek to find the person we are meant to be.

Defined by our own rules, we seek to discover our likes and dislikes, our political and religious beliefs, and our identity within the grand chaos of the world. And outside of the confines of school and rules, we learn what we like, what we don't like, what we want, what we don't want, what we dream of, and what we seek to never fall victim too.

Defined by your own rules, you become an independent, goal-oriented, self-driven individual, seeking your own happiness and working every day to become the person you've always wanted to be—and every decision made is 100 percent your own.

Being happy.

As said above, we all hope to be happy, however that is defined. We all seek to wake up and go to sleep with a driving passion that stirs our blood and vibrates our bones; we want to live every day knowing that we want for not and seek for not and enjoy the blessings we have.

Despite the fear, and the reservations, and all the voices telling you otherwise, eventually you'll settle into a rhythm all your own—a rhythm defined by your own drummer—and every whispered contradiction and rumored slight will be nothing.

You are exactly what you always wanted to be, and you're taking on the world.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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