I Graduate College in a Month, and I’m Scared AF
Y’all, ima be honest. Post-grad kinda scares me.
As an undergraduate senior at Kennesaw State University with just one month left until graduation, I can’t help but think about what’s to come next. When I think about my future, anxiety swells and takes over my brain.
What if I don’t land a job after college? How am I going to pay rent? Will I ever be successful?
These thoughts make up what I call Post-grad Anxiety—and for me, and so many other seniors across the country, the struggle is real.
They always say it helps to talk to someone when you’re in a crisis, so... let’s talk about it.
My Post-Grad Worries
People love to talk about all the exciting new things you gain after graduating college—like your dream job, moving to a new city, meeting new friends, traveling, or even marriage. But what they don’t talk about enough is what you lose.
For a lot of us seniors, our whole lives are tied to campus. Our closest friends, our community, and our routines have all been created in this environment. For me, most of my friendships came from being in band, working with student media, and joining our film club. Even beyond friendships, campus has also given us a way to live. Some of us have scholarships and grants helping us out with things like groceries and living expenses. Thanks to the stability of college, we’ve made connections and built lives that we just can’t recreate anywhere else.
In a way, leaving college feels like leaving a part of ourselves behind.
And it’s not just about losing your identity, it’s about losing structure too. In college, we had the stability of routines. Classes, homework, campus jobs, late-night hangouts, club meetings, and sports all kept us in a constant rhythm. But in the adult world, there’s a lot more chaos and uncertainty.
Suddenly, stress and worry are thrown at you. Rent is due. Loan payments start. Groceries cost way more than they used to. Most of us are barely making ends meet and even then, it’s not enough. Not to mention the job market being difficult to navigate. Our dream careers aren’t exactly guaranteed, and in some cases, we’re forced to resort to working somewhere that’s not ideal.
And then when you add in relationship stuff, family responsibilities, and trying to keep up with friends, it’s… a lot.
“I honestly feel like I’m drowning, but I have no choice but to keep going,” says Briana, a senior at Kennesaw State University. “The pressure drives me bananas every day. The job market is trash and everything feels like a dead end. With everything else going on in the world, there’s no telling how it’s going to affect us years from now.”
Briana is right. It’s hard out here when you’re just trying to stay afloat. Many of us are just trying to get by, but amidst the current state of the world, it feels like the odds are stacked against us.
I try not to stress about post-grad too much though, but I can’t help but notice my graduation date getting closer and closer. I genuinely don’t know what to do after that point. I don’t yet have a job related to my major, I don’t know where I'm gonna live after I move out of my apartment, and I have no idea how I’m going to survive living paycheck to paycheck.
The Upside of Post-Grad
But it’s not all bad. There are some ways to make this transition easier.
One thing I’ve been doing to ease my nerves is taking things one day at a time. Worrying about the future doesn’t really help with anything besides adding more stress. So for me, I just focus on what I can control and go from there.
I also try not to compare my journey to anyone else’s. It’s hard not to scroll through social media and feel a little jealous when you see people your age thriving or friends landing their dream jobs. But you have to remind yourself that life isn’t a race. It’s okay to move at your own pace.
“Adulthood is just one big puzzle. You kinda figure it out as you go,” says Zora Evans, founder of MoonHorizon Productions, who graduated two years ago. “Some pieces won’t fit, some will, and eventually it gets easier as more and more start to click.”
So while there’s a lot on my mind about life after graduation, I know I’ll be okay. I’ll surround myself with people who uplift me, stay focused on my goals (one step at a time), and find freedom in the uncertainties of adulthood.
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