You know what absolutely no one talks about?
Life.
I mean, I guess it is pretty hard to talk about considering everyone has different experiences and stories. But here’s the deal, no one, and I mean no one, talks about this awkward stage between college and real life.
Every single (new) alumni that I’ve spoken to feels lost. Whether or not they have a job already, whether or not they're on their own financially, whether or not they got all A’s or failed some of their classes. Everyone is lost.
I swear it’s because professors, parents, and mentors, at the end of our careers as students, forgot to tell us what it’s like to start from the beginning. I’ve been meeting with a lot of people who are where I’d like to be professionally one day and I’ve been asking them all how they started. What was their first job out of college? Is it wrong to turn down your first job offer if it’s not the right fit? How do I know that I’m good enough to go into the career path that I’ve been studying for the past four years?
How do we do life?
Sure, these are broad questions, but, speaking for myself, I kind of feel like I’ve been pushed off an extremely large cliff and I’m still falling. Graduation wasn’t a walk across a stage, it was a push off a cliff. I don’t think I’ll stop falling until I find my first job, am financially stable and am just doing it. I might not even recognize when I stop falling, but I’m sure it can’t be too far away. Right? Right?
Right?
In the meantime, I’m spending time with family and diligently searching for a job. I constantly keep reminding myself that I can do this and everything will be ok.