From The CHAARG Community: What I Wish I Would Have Known About Post-Grad Life
The start of spring semester means college graduation is right around the corner! Preparing to graduate can give you all the feels — excitement, anxiety, sadness, + anticipation. To help you prepare for what to expect, we asked our team of post-grads what they wish they would have known about post-grad life! Here’s what they said…
Ashleigh, @busybee.inthecity: “Finding motivation + time to workout is hard when you don’t have your WW, Small Group, etc! Also — it’s OK + not weird to network + reach out to random people. Someone reached out to me on LinkedIn, said they wanted my job + asked what advice I had. I ended up helping them get an internship somewhere else!”
Antonia, @ant_inchaarg: “Your routines/habits as a college student may be awesome and work well for you now, but it might not work as a post grad and thats ok! You may find yourself having to change when/how you workout, how you organize yourself/manage time, etc. Being patient with yourself, allowing yourself time to try new things, and being flexible + understanding that you may have to adjust your habits/routines to comply with your new situation can be frustrating but it’s essential to finding a post-grad flow that’s sustainable.
Ellan, @everyday_ellan: “There’s a lot of pressure to feel like you “have it all together” right away + you DONT have to!! Seriously — no one does. It’s totally okay to take time to figure out what you want to do, what routines work best for you, + to give yourself grace. Post grad adjustment is hard + it’s totally okay if you don’t have it all figured out right away!!”
Julia, @jshaun_inchaarg: “No matter what your post grad plans are [working + living back at home, moving to the city, going right to grad school, etc.] it is crucial to start off prioritizing yourself + what is important to you. As someone who physically can’t function without routine, having to adjust my entire life + schedule made me feel really weird ++ it wasn’t until I sat down, ignored the urge to make a routine out of thin air, allowed myself to truly see what my ‘new life’ [+ routine] was like [*thank you Sarah Clem*] + do whatever I could to build in things that made me *happy* did I feel ‘normal’ + more like myself.”
Mary, @itsmaryk: “No one will do our sacred work for us if we burn out, so we must keep the fires burning for ourselves.” Freedom is an incredible privilege, but with that comes great responsibility. As a post-grad, you must be willing to try and try again with all parts of your life. There is no one *right* way to live a life, and you can completely design your own life based on your own priorities and values — just do so gently, with compassion for yourself!”
Ashley, @awill_inchaarg: “Every part of life seems to change after graduation and it is EXHAUSTING! Stay true to yourself + focus on your personal goals to keep you grounded. Everything will fall into place eventually — be patient + enjoy the ride!”
Brittany, @blind_inchaarg: “You never have to stay where you are. If you are unhappy make the changes you need to find your happiness again. I see this so much with new post grads feeling like they have to choose a job where they will stay for 30+ years. That’s not true! Try a job, if you hate it, find a new one. Each job you do offers you a chance to gain experience no matter what, but you aren’t stuck with the first job you land post grad, find your passion!”
Sarah, @sarahkclem: “You still have a lot of *growing up* to do after college + the homework isn’t done. You’ve graduated, you’ve gotten your degree, you’ve hopefully landed a job that you like — but that doesn’t mean the work you do on yourself is done. Embracing change + giving yourself time to really figure out *who you are* is the real homework of post-grad. You may have gotten a head start on it while in school, but when you’re in the real world you are put on an accelerated course of learning to care for yourself — really care for yourself, finding relationships that fill you up, + creating your own lifestyle + routine. You’re no longer living in a bubble with typical structure, people all your own age, + clear guidelines of what *success* looks + feels like [no more dean’s list to tell you you did a good job the previous semester ; )]. It’s now up to you to figure out what *good enough* is + how you want to fill your own cup, every day.”
Elisabeth, @elisabethsinnott: “Friendships will change + looks different after college, + that’s totally okay. It takes effort on both ends to maintain virtual friendships [chances are high that you won’t live in the same city as most of your friends from college] ++ some friendships may fizzle out… so, make sure to communicate with those friendships that you want to continue nurturing! Write down birthdays in your calendar, plans trips to visit, + utilize text/FT. Also! Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to make friends post grad, + you’ll be surprised that you’ll meet some of your best friends post college ; ).”
Jill, @jill_inchaarg: “Friendships are harder post-grad + no one warns you. Time, distance, + schedules separate you from being as close. You have to really be intentional + work hard to maintain friendships! It’s easy to be in a pattern of not meeting people.”
Anna, @annaferrato: “It’s lonely AF”
Kylie, @knightingale3: “Finding a job after college was so hard for me! I felt so hopeless and thought that my degree meant nothing in the corporate world because I didn’t have 3-5 years of experience. I wish I knew that this is more normal than it seems and that patience really is key [even if that means being broke af and waiting months for the right position].”
Leah, @healthtothemaxey: “Life doesn’t *slow down* after college like we think or expect it to.”
Tori, @tori_inchaarg: “Life doesn’t slow down. There is a misconception that you’ll never be as busy as you are during college — trying to balance classes, homework, a social life, + maybe even work. Post-grad life is even harder than college because you have to adapt your schedule to work hours + commuting, + those work hours take up a lot more time than class hours ever did. You don’t have the same flexibility anymore to do things when you want [or skip class when you want] on your own schedule. Post-grad life demands that you’re responsible with your schedule, and there are more consequences when you slip-up or forget things. You’ll have just as many opportunities/things going on post-grad as you did in college, so college is really the time to learn time-management, priorities, + balance, because that won’t just come naturally once you’ve graduated.”
. . .
Through CHAARG, we hope to not only give you guys the tools to have an amazing college experience… but ALSO an incredible post grad journey! That is why we started The CHAARG Podcast — to interview people on their wellness + career journeys after college! This month, we are bringing Mary [@itsmaryk] back on the podcast to talk about advice she wish she would have known about post-grad life. Any specific topics you’d like us to talk about? Let us know!
Rooting for you,
