You don’t know what is at the bottom and honestly, do you even want to know? Can’t be anything but a graveyard, right? May as well throw in the towel now! All the fun is over and it’s time to get old and gray and boring.

Nope! When I graduated college, I saw the years after college as a completely blank slate, and I had NO clue how I wanted to fill them. Turns out life has many unexpected things in store, and there will be many great, positive changes post-grad. We at Swift Wellness have a few ideas to cope with the changes heading your way and also some food for thought about what to do with this very exciting time of your life.

Firstly…

What Changes Should You Expect?

There is the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

The good?

No homework = more free time. Thankfully, the tests and essays and assignments and projects are behind you. All the interests and hobbies you wanted to try out and pick up now become so much more feasible and manageable. Learn how to actually cook, start a blog, take painting or kickboxing classes, read for fun! Put away the schoolbooks, devote effort into a different sort of education, and diversify your skillset.

A fresh start and independence is yours, at last! It is so exciting to feel very much in control of your life and what direction you want to take. (Exciting and daunting!)

The bad and the ugly?

You may have (or want) to restart your social circle. Frat parties and crappy keggers, while college-classics and memorable, are a thing of the past. You may miss campus life for a while but I promise, it gets so much better!

You may feel like you have no direction or purpose after graduation. You don’t know what to pursue, what kind of work you want to do, where to go, who to live with, and you simply don’t even know where to start. The number of possibilities can be overwhelming. We have some inspiration for you down below!

Advice for the Graduate: How to Deal with Changes Coming Your Way

Spend time with loved ones

Friend and family support goes a long way. The friends that are graduating with you are going through the same struggle, and it is more than okay to lean on one another! 

Put aside time to really think long-term

Take time to write down your long-term goals and life aspirations, even if they are vague, and think about what moves you can make to get there eventually. What do you want out of this one life on earth, and what can you do to achieve it?

Make a plan for the immediate summer following graduation

While thinking long-term is important, it can stress you out far more to remember your immediate concerns—that you have no idea where or what you’ll be doing on June 1 when your college condo lease ends. Many grads move back home for the summer after college, just to get their feet back under them before setting out on their own. 

Set small goals when it comes to making big moves

Otherwise, it can get immensely overwhelming. Your future is yawning before you and your first goal shouldn’t be to land your dream career position two months after graduation. Unnecessary pressure! 

Going off the previous point, set realistic goals and expectations for the year after graduation—financial, career, and personal.

Need Some Inspiration for Post-Grad Life?

The world is at your fingertips, if only you have the courage to not only take, but make, opportunities for yourself. If you don’t know which direction to take, just experiment and try out as many things as you are curious about and interested in. 

As I’ve always liked to say, just pick a lane!

You are young, you have your life ahead of you, and now is the perfect time to take chances and dabble in worthwhile, valuable life and world experiences. Try out different jobs, places, lifestyles, but be intentional in changes and choices that you make. 

Here is some food for thought.

You could…

Get an entry level job

Get advice from your family and mentors, go to your university’s career development office and have conversations with career counselors, set up a LinkedIn profile, and get started. Indeed and LinkedIn are great places to start looking for that first step towards your dream career!

Or, start with an internship in a field or industry that interests you. It builds professional and career experience, improves your resume, could lead to a full-time job within the company, and gains you a professional reference. Since an internship is short-term, you discover whether you’d actually enjoy that career or field without making that same long-term commitment as a job.

Travel

Take the quintessential rite-of-passage, three-month European backpacking tour. Live out of cheap hostels and out-of-the-way Airbnbs, explore the nooks and crannies of ancient European cities, get into trouble, and hop on airplanes and trains without planning. Or backpack South America or road trip the US and visit as many national parks as you can.

And, it is no excuse to say you can’t afford it (I was a dirt-poor college student with probably about a million and half dollars owed in loans, too!) because there are a ton of ways to travel on a budget. You could WWOOF, use WorkAway, couchsurf, or you could...

Work abroad

Take a step farther than traveling, and live internationally! Living in, as opposed to visiting briefly, a foreign community takes on a whole new role; you become involved in and a part of a new lifestyle and culture, and there is so much opportunity for personal growth in this choice.

There is always a need for English-speaking teachers abroad, and some of the countries that are currently seeking English teachers are: Thailand, China, Mexico, Morocco, Brazil, Russia, and South Korea. Many teaching jobs require a TEFL certification, which can be pretty easy to get.

You could also become an au pair anywhere in the world, if you like kids!

Do seasonal work

CoolWorks is your one-stop-shop for seasonal work. Just browse this incredible website and be filled with a huuuge amount of wanderlust. Just warning you, it is a trap, and you will fall for it.

You could work on a fishing boat in Alaska, in a quaint inn on an island off the coast of Maine, a dude ranch in the mountains of Montana, on a wildlife refuge in Florida, or as a whitewater rafting guide in Colorado. Many of these adventure jobs don’t require much professional experience, and are oftentimes entry-level retail, sales, restaurant, and hospitality type of positions. But might as well travel and make a buck at the same time, right?

Volunteer

There are so many incredible volunteering programs over the country and world, and this point in your life can be the opportune time to give back.

Peace Corps

Peace Corps is a 2-year commitment, but to be immersed in another community, spreading good, is an amazing opportunity.

AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps has a ton of great entry-level jobs available. Typically a one-year commitment, you gain professional experience, your work contributes to a humanitarian cause, and you receive a small stipend and loan forgiveness upon completion.

Conservation Corps

The Conservation Corps is a great option for anyone who wants to give back to the earth, and be ~one~ with Mother Earth for a few months. You can work in any region of the US!

Join a Gap Year Program

Gap Year programs are great for those who don’t want to give up structure and want to continue a more formal education and development. It can be a great addition to a resume and serve as an amazing, educational, personal growth experience. A few programs to take a look at are Teach for America, GoAbroad, and GoOverseas.

Turn a passion into a career

Sell your artwork and pottery on Etsy, go for your own yoga certification and start running your own classes, do freelance photography or writing. It happens all the time—your passion does not have to remain just a hobby.

Attend graduate school

Maybe you haven’t had enough of the books after all! Many also return to graduate school a full year after undergraduate graduation, so never say never. Grad school leads to better, higher-paying job opportunities, mentors and greater knowledge, and life structure and direction.

Handing you the mic...

College graduation is a monumental milestone in life. Life is handing you the mic in this moment and you have the ability to make what you want of it! Hopefully, our ideas make you pumped for post-grad life. 

Life is just getting started! If you have any more ideas for life following college graduation, we would be excited to hear them.