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| Photo courtesy of TypicallyTali |
You have three months left. Three more months of 2am papers and dancing on windowsills and living five minutes away from all of your closest friends. Some days will be whimsical, halcyon-tinged and Hollywood-perfect (the day you get a job or get accepted into grad school, having drinks with your best girlfriends and everything "clicks," turning in your last final) and other days you will simply want to roll up in a ball on your bed and never open the door for fear someone else will bombard you with “What are you doing after you graduate?” “Do you have a job?” “Wasn’t college the best years of your life?”
Both of these are
completely normal. Sometimes when I think of this time a year ago it seems like
just yesterday I was at my last Bid Day, or networking nonstop to find a job,
or trying to take advantage of every last moment with my best friends. And
other times it seems like a lifetime ago-the real world has clicked so quickly.
However you are
feeling at this moment: lost, excited, nervous, relieved, here is some advice I
wish someone had given me in February of 2013 so I could sleep a little easier
at night before May 12th arrived.
1.
People
have high expectations of you, and you are probably going to let them down.
Your parents want you to move back home, your professors want you to get into a
great grad school, you want to live on more than Ramen noodles, and your close friends want
you to just do something that makes you happy. I wish I could tell you that
finding a position that fits all of these requirements is easy, and if you just
studied hard enough, and networked long enough, everything would fall into
place. And sometimes that may be the case, but it isn’t guaranteed. Instead of
trying to fit into everyone’s mold of “what you could be” and fulfilling your
“potential” take a step back to write down all the options that would make you proud. Then move forward. Sometimes
what you think is best for you, and what your parents think is best for you, is
synonymous. And even if it is not, at the end of the day you only have yourself
to blame if you are not happy with where your potential has taken you.
2.
You don’t
have to “go out” every weekend and Wednesday night from now until Graduation
Day. It is okay to stay in and watch a movie, or even finish up your English
essay on a Friday night. It is also okay to let your girlfriends go out for a
night without you, I assure you nothing life-shattering is actually going to
happen. So you missed a few calories worth of drinks and one funny story…I
guarantee you next weekend there will be new funny stories and new cute guys
and many drinks to be had. Don’t let other people decide what “taking
advantage” of your last months looks like, define it for yourself. I promise
you from experience that sometimes waking up on a Saturday morning knowing your
final paper is done with no hangover can feel just as gratifying as that third
rum & coke.
3.
Make
networking a game. That is fun. That you will win. It is easy to dread a crowded
room of fake conversations and everyone taking advantage of others’ success or
connections. If you think of it that way. However, if you use it as an excuse
to dress-up and do your hair (which always makes you feel better) and then take
advantage of the free beverages (one of the best parts) and then just see it as
a way to meet new friends (way less scary than meeting a future employer) you
are set. Be yourself. Be funny. Be memorable. Of course, you always have your
professional cap on, but your personality can be channeled in the corporate
world as well.
4.
Visit with
you favorite professors. Just drop-by for office hours because you want to
chat. You don’t always need an assignment as an excuse to stop in and have a
good conversation. You can talk about the future, and the trials of second
semester, and ask them for words of advice. I assure you, they will have
plenty. And some funny stories to share as well. Don’t take these connections
for granted; cherish them.
5.
Don’t feel
the need to play by someone else’s playbook of “How to Make Second Semester
AWESOME” just because they are following it. Here are some things you will probably
hear over the next few months:
- Come to the bar…you only have x weekends left
- It’s only one party, when are we going to do this again
- You’re a senior and you’ll graduate soon anyways
- The paper will still be there in the morning
- Just take the job, at least you’ll have something
- YOLO (ok, if you’re friends are still saying this…we may have some other issues)
At the end of the day
this is your senior year and you can
make it amazing any way you choose. Fact is you are never going to experience
this time in your life again, and you are only letting yourself down if your life isn't what you authentically want it to be.
A few other things to
keep in mind before May rolls around:
2. Drinking wine every night with your studies is completely acceptable
3. Getting nostalgic for your friends even before you leave is normal
4. Knowing you were ready to graduate 6 months ago is okay
5. Being scared about the future. That is okay too.
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