Life After College: 5 Things You Will Learn

If you check out my last post here, you will know I just recently finished college.

Even though it is amazing to be done, it also came with some valuable life lessons.

Some lessons you will learn the hard way and some that will be easier to swallow.

The reality of adulthood and adulting will set upon you like never before. Honestly, some days you just want to go back to when you never had to worry about all these things even though that is impossible.

I wish I could tell you that there is a manual to adulting, but there isn’t

But, here are some things you will learn about life after college to help you cope even faster than I did.

Losing friends

Remember how you struggled to build relationships in college, after college, you will lose some of those relationships. And trust me you will be okay if not better.

You will learn that sometimes relationships are seasonal. People are there to serve a purpose for a specific time and place. And that time was college. They were there to serve as your support system but not anymore

Everyone is so busy with trying to figure out what is next for them and no one has time to chill like they used to. People become so consumed with work and trying to stay on top of everything that they dont have the time to make time out for you

You will get a lot of No’s and i am unable to attend when you invite them out.

Quite frankly, you probably will be that friend to someone as well. However, it is absolutely possible to build lifelong relationships with your friends.

But

Your life changes after college. Your priorities will become different and balancing it all just may cost you your relationships.

Bills

My goodness! The bills wont stop. You need to prepare yourself to starting handling bills and that includes learning to manage your finances. After college, you will become responsible for all if not most of your bills.

Your rent, insurance, hydro, student loan, internet etc

If you lived on residence or with your parents, you didnt have to worry about most of these bills. Once you start living on your own, these bills become your responsibility every month if you want to keep your lights on.

At first, it becomes really overwhelming but it does teach you to budget and plan your finances properly. You wont have the luxury to go to a bar every night but you will learn the importance of saving. In fact, the bills can make you strive to make more money so you dont always have to feel the pressure of keeping up.

Everyone is watching

This one I feel it almost every day.

I constantly feel peoples eyes on me

Not in the way you are thinking….

But,

People are watching to see whats next for you. They want to know what direction your life is headed. Some people do come with good intentions and some people really dont

You will find that people will constantly ask about how/if you intend to pursue higher education, career and stuff like that

The questions are not wrong but it can get a little bit annoying when you dont know or have the answers for them

You are still figuring out what this world holds for you and all you hear is

Have you gotten a job? What do you want to do with yourself?

Listen, dont let anyone pressure you with their questions. I have learned that it is okay to be clueless. When I figure it out, if I think you need to know then you will be the first to know.

Formulate a speech. Create and rehearse a speech so whenever anyone comes asking, you just recite it for them.

Trust me I do it. Anytime people ask me about I just recite my speech to them. It will save you time thinking of what to tell them

At least they can appreciate the consistency

Flip it: for every time someone asked you what you are gonna do after college, save a $1in a jar. You will be surprised you can live off you $1 jar

But, while you do that, you should try different creative things that you will like to do and explore the different ideas you have had fear of doing. It is okay if it doesnt work out but what if it does?

Get stuck in a job

With the job market being competitive it is very easy to get stuck in a job you dont like.

It is rare that you have your dream job waiting for you when you are done or at least a job with potential career prospects once you just graduate. It will take a lot of time, effort and job applications before that happens

Before then, you will find yourself either staying with the job you had in college or getting any job that pays the bills. You will also receive a lot of rejection letters from places you applied that would make you feel not qualified. You may even start believing that you are really not qualified. If you are not careful, you may stay stuck.

You will learn that patience is key and it takes consistency and constant changes to you resume before you get a job. It may take a while but it will eventually happen.

You will also learn that you may have a different purpose than a 9-5 job. It could be a business or a freelancing gig that you want to explore. Sometimes it takes difficult situations to figure out what you really want out of life.

You can market your skills and engage in freelance work. A good place to start is Fiverr. I just found out about it when I needed help with an issue on my blog. I was blown away and I was just like this is incredible more people need to know it. Hence why I’m mentioning it.

 It is a great platform where you can sell your skills from writing, web designing, coding, whatever really to an array or people looking to purchase what you have daily.

You may fall in love with the convenience of it. Instead of designing behind the desk at a marketing firm. You can get clients online and do it from the comfort of your home and no boss.

While you wait it out your dream job, you can try it out.

You are now an adult

The transition is a huge learning curve Im not gonna lie but there is a fun element to it. Obviously, if you got into college as a mature student it may not apply to you. But, if you started college like me, you begin to feel the spirit of adulting (if there is anything like that).

You begin to feel responsible for yourself and you begin to act responsibly as well. No one gives you free passes anymore.

I could be wrong but I think this happens because of the pressure of adulthood including all the bills and responsibilities that you now have

Before, I took a lot of shit from people. I allowed some things I wasnt okay with slide mostly because I wanted to keep the peace

But now it is different. No one can talk to me in a way that is displeasing without me letting them know I feel offended by it.

It is the you don’t pay my bills, don’t talk to me like that syndrome.

To be honest, I am a lot more confident in the decisions I make for myself and also before I make them, I do take a lot into perspective. Honestly, I think it just comes naturally with growth but its still good.

We all learn, maybe differently but we do and it will be great to hear your’s.