Yes, we are the old heads on campus walking around confidently and are the ones you all may look up to or come to for advice. Although we might be able to tell you what guy/girl not to date, what party to avoid, and what classes/professors to take, deep down we are burning with questions of our own. Being an upperclassman is fun and it comes with plenty of perks, but it also comes with anxiety and lots of pressure. We get asked a thousand questions, from, "What are you planning to do after graduation?" to, "Are you going to keep your bike? If not, can I have it?" Most of the time, we play it off and respond calmly. In reality, however, we are the complete opposite.
We are scared to death. We are about to go into the real world, a world we are not familiar with and have heard horrific stories about. The thought of being a disappointment to our parents, family, and/or friends terrifies us. While we are leaving what we've known for four years behind and walking into a jungle full of predators, we're just fearfully hoping we aren't the prey. We don't know what will happen after graduation, and we definitely don't know where we'll be within the next five years, and that scares us.
We are unsure of ourselves. We don't know what the future holds for us, and we definitely don't know if we are fully prepared for the next thing to come. Yes, we have a degree and may have a little experience under our belt, but is that good enough? Am I ready? These are the questions we ask ourselves every day leading up to graduation. Don't get me wrong, we are confident in the abilities we have discovered and the skills we have developed in college, but we do wonder if what we encompass is enough.
We are going to miss it all. We will miss our college friends, our peers, the late nights partying, the mornings running to class hungover, the weekends full of procrastination and festivities, and the beautiful girls/guys. Most of all, we will miss the carefree life. We will miss not having any worries other than the test we have in the morning. We will miss having no bills, no children, no boss, no parents. Right now, we just have junk food, beer pong, and that text that reads "Tonight is going to be lit!" No real responsibilities exist, but to graduate. That's the life we are going to miss!
We don't have all the answers, and we don't know if we are going to land that dream job we've been dreaming about all through college. We have many aspirations and new ideas. We are full of hope, and also doubt. But, who isn't? Everyone who has big dreams is scared at some point.
In the words of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, "If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough!"
Next time you're about to ask a college senior, "So what are your plans after graduation?" you should instead tell them, "It is going to be OK."
We don't want anymore questions. We want our own answers.
