Dear Graduates,

You did it! Doesn’t it feel fantastic to have this accomplishment under your belt? It should! You’ve worked toward this goal for years and you’ve finally made it. You worked your butt off studying for classes, participating in extracurricular activities, and maintaining a fun and fulfilling social life, am I right? So the next question is, what now?

If you haven’t found a big kid job yet, you’re probably stressing big time, right? I mean you can’t live with your parents forever (even if for some reason you want to). Also, you probably have some hefty student loans to pay back. For those of you who do have a job lined up or have been accepted to grad school and maybe halfway know think you know what you’re gonna do with your life, you’re secretly freaking out too, aren’t you?

Growing up is scary. I’m not gonna lie to you, being a grown up can sometimes be awful. You’re gonna be out on your own and you have to be responsible for things like feeding yourself, paying bills, and dealing with the IRS during tax season.

But I’m not gonna lie to you and say it’s all bad either. Sometimes being an adult rocks! For starters, you make all your own rules. If you wanna go to waffle house at 1:00 AM on a week night, go for it! And personally, I like having responsibilities. They make me feel important and accomplished. One of the best things about being an adult and a college graduate is that people respect you as in equal instead of an immature student. Colleagues trust me to do my work, children look up to me as a role model, and church leaders ask me to help out in a lot of ways. I LOVE it!

So here is my advice to you: If you have no idea what your next step will be and you’re freaking out on the inside, don’t sweat it too much. Trust God’s timing and enjoy your freedom from the corporate or graduate school world while it lasts. For all of you, set boundaries for yourselves. Yes, you’ve done your time and earned your freedom in adulthood, but don’t abuse it and do things you’ll regret later. And lastly, be the type of responsible adult that people trust and children look up to. The world is your oyster, take good care of it.

Sincerely, A College Graduate, 2.5 years removed