Dear Miss Molly,
I’m a senior and will be graduating in the spring. It is hard to believe how fast these four years have flown by; it seems like only yesterday I was at freshman orientation.
As graduation is approaching, I am very conflicted and feeling a lot of stress. I am concerned about my life after graduation. Where will I work, live – will I get married? I feel like life truly begins once you graduate college. All this pressure sometimes amounts to me overworking myself with school work and job applications, but at the same time I want to cherish these last few months with my friends.
What is more important? Living up my final few months as a college senior or staying in and planning my future?
Sincerely,
Conflicted
jgh
Dear Conflicted,
Being a senior myself, I can sympathize with some of your anxieties. Graduating from college can be a very scary and lonely feeling, which is why it’s important to remember you are not alone.
You have hundreds of other classmates who are in the exact same boat.
Most college seniors do not have their futures lined up to a tee, because the future is unpredictable. It is impossible for anyone to even know if they’ll make it to the breakfast table tomorrow morning, let alone what they might be up to 10 years from now.
What I am getting at is sitting in on a Friday night and stressing about the future accomplishes absolutely nothing.
Put on your party dress (or pants for the gents), curl your hair, have a drink, dance on tables and kiss strangers. Cherish every second you have with these beautiful people you’ve been surrounded by these last four years.
Because guess what? Once you graduate, it’s not as socially acceptable to do all these irresponsible things that we can get away with when we’re 22.
I’m not saying to completely blow off your career or studies. Do everything you possibly can. But at the end of the day, your best is all you can do. So don’t waste a Saturday night that you can’t get back a year from now.
One last thing: Cut the drama out of your life. Not only does drama cause unnecessary stress, but at this point in your college career it is completely irrelevant. The girl who gave you a dirty look freshman year, your ex-boyfriend, your roommate you didn’t get along with, forgive them all, laugh about it and move on. Most of these people you might never see again, do you really want to leave on negative terms?
It might be surprising how liberating forgiveness can be. Become best friends with your class and bond over your mutual stress of the mystery of the future.
You have four months until graduation, so make every last second count.
Love always,
Miss Molly
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