As graduation season approaches, seniors may feel a heightened sense of pressure to get a flashy job or move to an exciting new city. While this pressure is understandable, it’s essential to be patient with yourself and celebrate everything you have accomplished during your college years. Graduating from college is an exceptional achievement in itself, and deserves to be celebrated accordingly.
Let’s face it– college life is busy and can be hectic at times. Graduating seniors have spent the last four years preparing for “the real world.” Through the many hours spent studying in the library, applying for internships and jobs, engaging in extracurriculars, maintaining a social life and so much more. It is often challenging to find the downtime to spend time with your loved ones or pick up new hobbies. Luckily, post-graduation offers a sea of opportunities to discover your interests, passions and goals, whether you’re making a cross-country move, or driving home to your family’s house. Tracking new interests or fun activities in a summertime journal is a helpful way to reflect and discover what you enjoy doing most. Down the line, this will help you to curate a career path that incorporates both your professional and personal interests. Taking the time to wind down after a busy four years with your friends and family who have supported you along the way, or picking up a new hobby will help navigate life as a post-grad.
After graduation, it can be hard to feel unsure of what the start of your career will look like, but sometimes taking a non-career-related job can be a great way to start your post-grad life. While it may not sound like the thrilling Samantha Jones job trajectory, getting a non-career-related job provides opportunities to save up, network, or even just to take a deep breath after finally finishing all the work that goes into getting your degree. Getting a non-career-related job can also be an amazing way to find out what you want in a career-related job. For example: maybe working at a local coffee shop makes you realize you want to go into a position that allows you to elevate the voices of small businesses, or maybe working as a soccer coach makes you realize that working in an environment that values teamwork is a must. However, even if this job doesn’t cause any epiphanies, any job – career-related or otherwise – is always a great opportunity to save up some cash. It never hurts to save a little, especially before diving headfirst into a job search. Finally, a non-career job can be fun! Maybe you aren’t the CEO of a marketing firm, but taking a non-career job can be a great way to try out something completely out of your wheelhouse.
Overall, it is extremely important to find a career that you truly enjoy. Post-graduation is the perfect time when you can figure out what career path you are passionate about and what is going to be the right fit for you. Taking the time to do some research and begin creating a plan can help give you that feeling that you are still continuously working towards your goals. If you have aspirations to go onto graduate school one day, then it is an opportunity to figure out some locations and schools you would like to attend and live in. Find which schools have better programs, or which ones offer more scholarships. You can begin looking at what certain programs require and see if you can take one class at a local community college to get that requirement out of the way. If you have a dream job that you know you want to do one day, start making a plan and find which type of entry-level job you can apply to that will help you work your way up. If you don’t know what you want to do at all; that is just fine! This can also be a time where you can learn more about yourself and figure out what type of job or career speaks to you. After graduation, it is hard not to feel like you need to take this huge leap into adulthood, but in reality, this is the most crucial time to be aware of what you need and take it one step at a time.