During senior (or super senior) year of college, realizing your time at Texas A&M is quickly ending can be difficult, and can be accompanied by fear of the unknown and skepticism about entering the monotonous “real world.” As a former student less than a year after graduation, here is the advice I would give to anyone in that situation:

Fear & Pressure from the Unknown

All of your college career is orientated–quite ironically–towards graduation, the day you leave college. This is shown by the most commonly asked question to college students; “what do you want to do after you graduate?” As a topic often dreaded by those who still don’t have a good answer, it pressures and reminds them that their time to get an answer is running out with every passing semester.

Although I felt confident with my choice of major, I still did not know exactly what I wanted to do with my life. There are so many unknowns! That’s why I think that the graduation question is a bad one: it assumes that our lives are static once we graduate. Instead, a better–and more helpful–phrasing of the question is “what’s the first step after graduation?” The major you chose and the first job you have are important, but they do not determine the entire trajectory of your life. Your life can–and should–change as you do. Finding new personal interests, starting a family, and other momentous life events will naturally lead to differing lifestyles and careers. You can pivot if needed. The next time you are asked “what do you want to do after you graduate?” have confidence that you don’t need to know the entire answer to that question. Instead, just aim to have a good first step.

Entering the “real world”

I often heard a lot of backhanded comments about life after graduation from both recent graduates and those who have been out for a while. They often laude how great college is and emphasize how they wish they were back living their “golden years” of life. With this overly romanticized view, it can be easy to think that the best and most enjoyable part of life will end after college. How depressing! 

A lot of stress about graduation comes from this viewpoint which is reinforced by begrudging comments on the “real world.” Not everyone’s college years will be the high point in their life, but nor should it be. College can have many exciting times, but it can also have many troubling ones. Similarly, just as there are disadvantages to the “real world,” there are also many good things to come after graduation. Personally, I felt a great sense of time and freedom after college even while working a 9-to-5. I enjoy being able to leave work at work instead of having the constant bombardment of studying and homework to accomplish after hours. Of course, some days at work are long and monotonous, but I still enjoy my work.