Real Life After College Is Not That Bad
Graduating college is single-handedly the best and the worst day of your life. You feel extremely accomplished as your hard work is finally paying off while at the same time you are overwhelmed with this deep sadness as the best four years of your life are slowly coming to an end.
You will leave your fairy tale land filled with mass amounts of good looking men, day drinking and day time naps for a world filled with business clothes, meetings and consistency. While you transition from what seems like one country to another, adjusting has never been so difficult.
Month after month you will long for the life you once lived on that beautiful campus you once called home. You will miss the classes you once hated as back to back meetings seem so much worse. Skipping is no longer an option when the snowy ice storm is unbearable or the rainy weather won’t let up.
You are going to want to find any excuse under the sun to go back. You will make the long trek to that beautiful land trying to look better than you did the day you left. Your first night out you will be extremely excited and overwhelmed. Excited to see the people you have missed for so long and overwhelmed as you get ready to drink way more alcohol in that one night than you have in the past 6 months.
Your night will most definitely be awesome as you wake up barely remembering anything that took place. You will have loved every minute of that night until you are A) puking over the toilet all day long or B) realize you lost your debit card that now contains your own hard earned money, not your parents.
As you tough out the day you will prepare for the night ahead; tired and confused as you question how anyone, including yourself, did this for four years. The nights you once loved, piling into the bar is no longer exciting. You will get annoyed as people push you back and forth to get from one place to another. Getting ice cubes chucked at your face suddenly isn’t funny anymore, it’s annoying.
Seeing your ex is your absolute worst nightmare and those individuals you avoided for so long are now every which way you turn. You will question why the beer you are drinking tastes watered down and your feet are sticking to the floor.
You will feel uncomfortable as you realize you have suddenly become the oldest being in the room. Beer getting spilled all over you is no longer an inconvenience- rather it is the most obnoxious occurrence in the world. At that very moment you will look around and wonder what exactly you missed so much.
This is the moment when you will appreciate your entry level job and all the annoyances that come with it. Waking up at 8 am feels good as you spend the day being what is called productive- something you rarely knew anything about. You will realize that spending the money you worked so hard for is much more gratifying when used on a new pair of Tory Flats than watered down Natty light from an overcrowded college bar.
Weekends spent curled up on a coach with your boyfriend have become way more exciting than getting trashed every night of the week. You will realize at that very moment as you dash for the nearest exit, you have outgrown this fantasy land; it’s time to grow up.
While this trip will leave you a little confused, nostalgic and sad, this is the trip you will need to realize that growing up isn’t so bad. Yes, you will miss the memories that you made and the friends that were there, but you have so much to look forward to. Don’t ever forget where you came from but always look forward to where you are going. It’s a beautiful world out there and yes, it’s time to grow up.