With spring break come and gone, college seniors across the nation are realizing they barely have more than a week left until graduation.
No matter what school, graduation can be daunting, especially with the commencement speaker who will speak on life after college. The first year after leaving school is going to be an adjustment all its own, like when you were a freshman, only now it's the real world.
Gathered from all over, here are the top 7 pieces of advice to remember right after graduation.
1. You will not move out right away.
Much is made of millennials with the perceived self-absorption, laziness and favoring of a creative career path over a technical one. Well, Mental Floss listed 18 people of all sorts of walks of life that lived with their parents. The list includes Steve Jobs, Rafael Nadal, Alexander Graham Bell, Jennifer Lawrence, Lou Gherig and the magazine's own co-founder and editor-in-chief.
2. Do not apply for jobs that will not make you happy.
In Jan., David M. Rubenstein spoke at the World Economic Forum on the topic of critical thinking. He said while students who major in humanities sometimes get a bad reputation for being too lazy to pursue a technical major, they are learning to think critically.
"You shouldn't enter college worried about what you will do when you exit," Rubenstein said, according to the New York Times.
3. Do not stress over your GPA.
It is not that important. See the next tip. Employers will likely care more about what you did outside the classroom, so highlight that on your resume.
4. Take your social media accounts seriously.
Job-Hunt.org's Susan P. Joyce previously wrote for the Huffington Post that the first thing a potential employer does with an applicant is enter their name into Google. More often than not what pops up first is the person's social media accounts. LinkedIn, About.Me, Facebook and Twitter will all definitely be in the top 10, so make sure they reflect your personality, but keep them professional. It's time to delete the party pics from the last four years of your life.
5. Your major does not define you.
If you are panicking because you are about to graduate with a "useless" degree, stop. The sooner you focus on how you plan to use your degree, the better. To ease your stress, consider this. Steven Spielberg graduated with a history degree, but while attending Cal State Long Beach, he would sneak into movie studios simply by looking the part. He wore a suit, carried a briefcase and was rubbing elbows with producers and directors before he even graduated.
6. Your student loan statements are coming, read them.
Your credit will be ruined if you fall behind on student loan payments and life will only get harder on you. Take advantage of your six-month grace period (or however long it is) by saving money and creating a monthly budget for yourself factoring in student loan payments. Visit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's website, they are a government agency devoted to advicating for borrower's rights. They will guide you to apply for favorable repayment plans and also show how to manage your debt without hurting your credit. Always be mindful of how much you owe, to which lenders and what type of loan it is.
7. Do not fear the unknown.
Dr. Alex Lickerman wrote for Psychology Today that there may be benefits to having a set routine, but there is a huge drawback.
"I've known for some time the real reason I resist trying new things and prefer routine is fear (what else?)-fear of the unknown," he wrote. "Studies suggest we fear an unknown outcome more than we do a known bad one. What if I don't like this new dish? What if that foreign country is dangerous? I have an extremely active and fertile imagination, and though it's a great advantage in writing, it can sometimes be a disadvantage in living."
Welcome to the rest of your life, seize it.
