When you're in college, you can only imagine what life after college will be like. Actually living that reality, however, is different than you might expect. Here are some ways that your life as you know it will change once you walk across the stage at commencement.
1. The way you think about the calendar is turned on its head.
From preschool to your senior year of college, you've spent around 19 years seeing August as "back to school time" and May as "woohoo, summer break!" Unless you end up working in the education field, this way of thinking is over. Eventually, an August will pass by as a "welcome to the fall season" and May will be an "introduction to summer," with no correlation to the school year at all.
2. College-age people will start to look like kids.
Those people still going through classes and homework? You're beyond that. And don't get me started on high schoolers. I can't believe anyone thought they were awesome back then.
3. The diploma you worked so hard to get will probably get tucked away in a box.
Your physical diploma can serve two purposes: décor for your office at your cool new job, tucked into a snazzy frame to show everyone that you really did go to college, or packed away in a box along with your essays, school projects, and other items from your youth so you can discover it years later and say "oh look, my college diploma!"
4. Instead of asking about your major, people are going to ask about your job.
The questions really don't stop, unfortunately. Expect everyone from your mom to your aunt to your cattycorner neighbor to the guy you pass in the grocery store to ask you what your job is.
If your job is complicated or new-fangled, create an elevator pitch highlighting your main responsibilities so navigating this situation can be easier. People may not remember what you said, but it's a crisis averted.
If you're unemployed, expect the question "what did you study in college?" If you pay close enough attention, you can see the wheels turning in their head as they try to turn the value of your degree into a real job as if you didn't do that every time you doubted yourself in undergrad.
5. It’ll be adjustment living anywhere besides your college town.
My college town had a Chipotle. My hometown only has a McDonald's. Only time will tell how long I can go without corn salsa before I become ravenous.
6. You’re not going to see your college friends as often as you think.
Me to my friends: After graduation, I'm going to visit all the time, I promise!
Narrator: But in fact, she wouldn't visit all the time. Not even for a day. Not at all.
7. You’ll have a lot of time on your hands.
If you're employed, you can do whatever you want when you get home from work because, for the first time in a long time, there is no homework. The world is wide, and the possibilities are endless, until your alarm goes off the next morning.
If you're unemployed, you have even *more* time to do stuff. You can watch all the DVDs in your cabinet even though you've seen them before, count all the hairs on your head then start again just to make sure you got the right number the first time, reorganize your junk drawer only for the system to go awry the next time you use it, and spend minimal time tackling your "books I want to read" list because procrastination. Oh yeah, and driving yourself to madness applying for jobs, prepping for interviews, and freaking out that your college degree is meaningless.
8. There’ll be times that you’re nostalgic about the college days.
When you think about things like laughing with your friends, appreciating the beauty of your college campus, and drinking Starbucks nearly every day thanks to your meal plan, college seems like such a good time.
9. Most of the time, you won’t miss it at all.
But, when you think about studying ceaselessly on a subject you just don't "get," freaking out about how missing only one point on that test makes the difference between an A and a B, and crying in the shower because you don't know how you're going to do it all, you're glad it's all behind you.
10. Your future is totally up to you.
You can get a 9 to 5 job in your hometown and stay there until you retire. You can throw a dart at a map and move to whatever city it hits in the name of adventure. You can do something totally outside of the scope of your degree. There are so many paths, and you can walk down one or many.
11. You recognize that “the rest of your life” is finally starting.
Not that you haven't been living your life up until this point. You know what I mean. It's just *different* now.
