Life After College

29.11.11

Life After College

It's over. You've graduated and you have your diploma in hand. You got by and handled your hangovers well. But if you are like most new grads, you look back over your college years and pout. You're not in college anymore, you aren't supposed to do the same things you did as you were in college. You also are probably realizing that instead of partying all those nights, you should have been studying. It's a hard transition to make and right now you're probably swimming in a sea of possibilities and self doubt.

College was fun, no doubt. You met a lot of people, had relationships, learned some things and experienced freedom for the first time. It was great, and now you are probably wishing you had that time back. Now we are distraught with symptoms of post graduate depression. Who's going to hire me, where can I live, am I interested in continuing college. Then you realize how much you miss your college days. The  real world is harder than you had originally thought. College wasn't the "real world"... what happens after college is the part that can be a bitch.

Nobody likes to make tough transitions. I mean, for some people the post-grad life is a breeze. But for those of us who consider themselves "average", it's kind of like being in a movie. A dramatic, nearly horrific movie where you're lost and nobody seems to know how to help you.  If only you're GPA measured your intelligence instead of your blood/alcohol content. Ugh... 2.8, really?

How is it possible to overcome this tension? There's got to be a way to overcome the horrible economy and job market. College graduates aren't getting the jobs you would think they could. Sure we can take mediocre jobs paying minimum wage or slightly better. But did we really waste all that time working on our diplomas to be working along side highschool kids? No matter how experienced you are or how educated, high end jobs are nearly impossible to land. Especially in states like mine, where the unemployment rate is 11% and rising.

And what about all the debt that an education accumulates? College is so expensive and isn't paying off in the long run, like it should. People are ruining their credit because they are paying out the ass for a degree that isn't useful anyway. Students have been begging colleges and governments for years to lower the costs of tuition. Luckily there are scholarships that exist to help with the financial burden of tuition. More attention needs to be given to the financial devastation alumni graduate with.

I think we are being misled here. Is it probable, that college isn't all that it's cracked up to be? Now that a college education is so easily obtainable, it's no longer the blatent sign of intelligence and perseverance that it use to be. Granted we are given an education that can never be taken back, but the world for graduates isn't ideal. Once we take off the cap and gown, we are forced to face a harsh reality. Fight the system, get a job, avoid debt, be happy for what you have and don't ask for more than your share. It's not easy, but things will settle down as long as you continue to put forth a strong effort. And we must remember, transitions are all normal parts of life. The world keeps moving and we keep  growing. Change is inevitable and eventually we will be forced to make even more complicated decisions. The key is to stay focused and keep pushing forward, even in times of great resistance and chaos. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, even for us recent graduates!

Check out this site for more information on what to do post-graduation.
IGRAD.com