More than a million students will graduate from college this spring. It’s an exciting time, and yet it can be a time of uncertainty and disappointments. You may have great expectations of landing your dream job, but you may find yourself working part-time in a local coffee shop. If you’ve just completed your education, here are three things that are “O.K.” and three things that aren’t “O.K.”:
It’s O.K. to be a college graduate and…
- Live with your parents. Honestly, if you are living near your parents and they are ready to welcome you back into the house, you can save some money until you’re ready to be independent. They just don’t want you to live there forever.
- Not be married. It might seem like all of your friends found the perfect mate in college. The reality is that the average age for marriage is 29 for men and 26 for women. Better not to be married than to marry the wrong person.
- Not have the perfect job. Don’t get discouraged if you have a degree and can’t find a job in that field. If you do find a full-time job that doesn’t meet your expectations, hang in there. You can learn a lot from just being in a work environment, submitting to authority, and gaining life experience.
It’s not O.K. to be a college graduate and…
- Be lazy. Maybe you are going to move back home. Maybe your job isn’t ideal. There are still many ways you can contribute. Just because you got a trophy for participation in the past, doesn’t mean you will get rewarded for being late to work or having a bad attitude because someone asked you to do a menial task. Rewards at work are called a paycheck.
- Not take some financial responsibility. You may be facing college debt. You may have to start paying for car insurance and your cell phone for the very first time. Guess what? Companies and lenders expect to be paid on time. Learn financial responsibility and start a savings account.
- Ignore finding community. College life generally provides lots of opportunities for creating friendships and finding community. After you graduate, you’ll discover you might have to work at finding friends. Walking into a church by yourself might be intimidating, but connecting to a community of believers will help you through those first few years after college graduation.