This goes out to all the people who recently graduated.

This could be high school, college, masters, doctorate, trade school, beauty school, etc. It does not matter what level of education, but to those who just closed a chapter and honestly, what could have been your identity. I know being a student was my identity. It’s strange not returning to classes and internships in a few short weeks.  

The word “graduating” comes immediately with questions of “what is next?” Society and/or family have placed these pressures to graduate high school, go to college, graduate college, get a well-paying job, get married, have kids, blah, blah, blah. I think we as a society are shifting from that, but in a lot of people’s minds, that is what we should be doing. Should statements are the worst, am I right??

Well guess what emerging ~adults~ … You do not have to know exactly what you are going to do with the rest of your life, and that is ok. It is okay to take a “nontraditional path”. I have this conversation all the time professionally and personally. We all come with baggage and experiences that shape and shift our present and our future, and that is ok. Give yourself some grace today that you may not be in your dream job, and that is okay. You can get there. It will take time. 

Not having a job right after graduating causes a lot of anxiety, feelings of inferiority, failure, depression, and lots and lots of confusion. What do we do with that? We talk about it. We normalize it. We take away the stigma. We work. We work on ourselves. 

Sincerely your fellow emerging adult,

Chloe