College, for some of us, was all about balance. Most college students try to balance the three major things college has to offer: Athletics/clubs, school/school work and a social life. While students try to balance practice and club meetings, complete 20-page papers and all of the other work piled up throughout the semester and keep their friends and their social lives, they become a little overwhelmed. Everyone has been in the position where they have to choose which one they want to do before the other. Usually people pick their social lives over all the others but hey, we all need a little stress reliever sometimes. Basically, balancing all of these things in college is exhausting. So while you’re emotionally and physically drained, the only thing on your mind are all of the breaks coming up. Winter break, spring break, Easter break and everyone’s favorite: summer break. Us seniors, while we were trying to balance our athletics, senior thesis and every other piece of work thrown at us, couldn’t wait for graduation (until the day came, of course). These are the stages every graduate goes through on graduation day.
1. Excitement
The day is here: graduation, the day we were counting down to. We are getting dressed in our dresses and the classic button-down-with-khakis outfits and we show up to the school (or wherever you graduate) with our friends by our sides. Then, the time comes when we have to start putting on our caps and gowns and line up to walk in twos to the commencement. The music starts playing and then...
2. Panic
A moment of panic sets in when you realize that you are done after the ceremony ends. After that diploma is in your hand, you’re not a college student anymore––you’re an adult. An adult who doesn’t have a job (congrats if you do because then you have no idea what I’m talking about). After you sit down with your diploma, you couldn’t care what’s going on around you. All you can think about is that come Monday, you will have absolutely nothing to do.
3. Relief
Wait, nothing to do? That’s amazing. I haven’t had nothing to do in four years. Nothing due on Monday in class? No class? Then you’re sitting in your chair smiling and the person next to you is wondering if they’re safe. Yes, they’re looking at you like you’re crazy because your face went from panic to a huge smile.
4. Celebration
You’re still sitting there (*Spongebob voice* three hours later) and you’re starting to get antsy to take pictures with your friends and family and then go out to celebrate. The ceremony is over; thank goodness.
5. Panic
You go off and look in the crowd for your family and friends and you can’t find a single soul. Great, a moment of panic again. Somehow I feel betrayed. Like my mom left me in the grocery store all alone or something like that. How dare they not stand out like a sore thumb? And you know if you call for your mom into the crowd, every mom will turn around, so that doesn’t do much.
6. Relief
OK, still looking...found them. The celebration goes nicely, you get money from your family and then, again...
7. Panic
Money. What are you supposed to do without any money? Great. No job, no money. Then you remember high school when you had to beg Mom for $20 for gas to get you to and from wherever you needed to go. And then you remember the dreaded moment when you had to offer her $20 from your paycheck and she took it, or when she was the real MVP and just gave it back to you. Yeah, still no job.
8. Applying for jobs
Monday comes around and you’re still job searching. Your resume is in 500+ company inboxes and you can recite your resume and every single cover letter you’ve written. Then you think, “maybe I should get my Masters.” Then you think about writing papers over 30 pages long and you quickly jump on Indeed.com and apply for 30 more jobs (one for every page you thought you would have to write if you went back to school).
9. Excitement/anxiety/thrill/depression
A week after graduation, you wake up to the ding your inbox makes when you have a new email. You open it up and realize someone likes you! Someone is interested in your resume and your skills. You look further into it, think it’s a good fit, schedule an interview, go to the interview and then you realize you’ll be answering phones for your entire life. So you’re back from possibly employed to still unemployed. Back to the search.
10. Reality
Then, as you’re sitting there with all of these emotions running through you, you hit the moment where you realize you’ll be OK. As all of these days continue, you soon realize that you aren’t the only one going through all of these feelings and emotions. You are one of more than a million people who are feeling this way or have felt this way. Your dream job may not come and knock you on the nose right after graduation, or it may. But either way, there is a lot more to life than what we had in college. We no longer balance the three same things. In fact, we are balancing a whole new life. Welcome to adulting.
Remember, going through these stages are normal and you may go through them for longer than others but keep pushing forward and it will come. The job will come!
