As I approach my senior year at Tech I can’t help but be consumed by the overwhelming reality that I will soon enter the real world. I’m not even entirely sure what the real world is, but I know that I am petrified of it. I also know that I am not alone in this fear. Most, if not all juniors and seniors in college, are just as terrified of the unknown as I am.
The future is full of uncertainties. What we decide to do when we graduate is uncertain and even getting a job at all after college is uncertain. Graduates who actually get jobs after college are part of the minority. Most graduates continue to look for jobs the summer after they graduate or they receive an internship that will hopefully, fingers crossed, lead to a job. In addition, the job one gets right after school is probably nowhere near what you actually planned on doing after college. In fact chances are that the job you get has nothing to do with what your major was in college.
Another petrifying part of life after school is becoming completely independent from your parents. You are expected to get a job, move out, pay bills, get insurance, and a lot of other grown up things that I probably don’t even know exist. Maybe there are some really mature and independent college students out there (I’m sure there are) that understand more about the real world than I do, and that’s cool, but I’m also sure that there are many more that are just as clueless as I am.
If you’re an introvert like I am, then another scary part of the future is adapting to new environments. Whether it is a new work environment, a new city, or new people it will take time to adjust to a different way of living. I am the kind of person that likes to know exactly what the situation or environment is before I enter it, but that is an extremely unrealistic way of thinking.
Adulting is hard. I have so far only been forced to adult in a couple of situations (i.e. paying for utilities, making appointments for myself, applying for jobs/internships, etc.). It’s not like these things are particularly hard, but they have given me a slight glimpse as to what it means to be an adult.
I look at the room I have lived in for twelve years and think about the day when it will no longer be mine. It’s depressing, really. I guess I’m really just using my room to symbolize a bigger picture; one day very soon I will start my big girl life in the big bad world and nothing will be the same ever again. And that’s okay. Life is full of changes and growth that everyone has to experience. If we didn’t, nothing amazing would happen.