Graduation is such a bitter-sweet time for students. On one hand, the promise to never again pull an all-nighter for organic chemistry takes a huge load off your back. On the other, the threat of paying bills with a real job that you may or may not have already brings you right back down… and probably scares the sh*t out of you. CollegeCandy had two of our graduate writers, Michelle and The Dude, offer up some advice they wish they had gotten when they graduated. Here are their 10 tips for surviving life post graduating!

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Graduates, what do you think? What would you add?! Tell us in the comments!

[lead image via olly / Shutterstock]

So you just graduated from college! Congratulations! You have a degree!

But now what? After we leave the comfort of a campus that we’ve known for four years, where do we go? What do we do? It’s such a strange place to be in life–22 and  lost. The next obvious step is to get into the “real world” and start looking for a job and starting your first career. Some other people decide to take some time off and travel. Some move back home and relax for a hot minute. And some decide to completely avoid reality and do a little thing called grad-school. All of these are wonderful options and as long as your post-grad self is happy, that’s all that matters!

If you’re hyperventilating while reading this because you’re a post-grad who feels overwhelmed by possibility or the pressures to get to a “real job”, never fear! I’m here to help take your mind off of things for a while and let you in on the lives of some fictional characters in the same place you are (but more miserable and dramatic). So check out these seven great films that focus on the post-grad life and take comfort in knowing that these people have it way worse. Happy watching! Read More »

This past summer I got my first post grad position. I worked for Monster.com as one of 34 community managers for their new Facebook application, BeKnown. Although they are based in Massachusetts, it was a telecommuting/make your own hours kind of job.

Working from home is a learning experience. Some people thrive in it, they learn how to be productive without having a boss tell them every little step. A very important trait to have in today’s workforce. But some people, like myself, are workaholics…and should never be allowed to work from home. To give you an example, in the past 48 hours, 26 of them have been spent working.

Now, I am not new to telecommuting or designing my own hours; this is my fourth job doing so. I love the freedom that you’re allowed, and how comfortable you can opt to be (although I recommend getting dressed daily before “heading” to work). But it gets tricky separating your work life and your home life since there isn’t any spacial difference.

So here are a few things to keep in mind while searching for that after grad job: Read More »

I’m having a pre-post-grad crisis.

Which is probably not a term you’ve heard all that often, especially since I’m 90% sure that I just made it up. So let me explain. The symptoms are not all that different from a post-grad crisis, except I’m not actually a post-grad yet. I’m a senior, a few months from graduation and I have absolutely no idea what comes next. And despite my many, many promises that I wasn’t going to worry or care or wonder, I can’t help myself. I’m thinking about it. I’m thinking about it a lot. And I don’t know what to do.

Right about now you’re thinking something like, you and every other 21-year-old out there. And you’d probably be right. No one really knows what they’re doing or where they are going straight out of college. But for the sake of this column I’m going to be the self centered twenty-something the world is always making our generation out to be anyway and I’m going to complain about my problem like I’m the first and only person to ever graduate college.

You’ve been warned.

This idea is something I’ve touched on earlier in this column, but I haven’t really had much time to contemplate it. Last semester was really, really busy. So busy that I almost forgot what college was all about, so much that I forgot how to enjoy myself. But this semester, that hasn’t been the case. Things have calmed down. I’ve calmed down. But all this free time has obviously left me with too much time to think. Because  I. AM. FREAKING. OUT. Read More »

"Uhhh... what now?"

[OMGeeee. Graduation is coming soon. As in, my graduation. As in, in less than two months I'm going to be donning a really unflattering gown and listening to someone tell me that the world is my oyster and blah, blah, blah. As in, I'm about to be a real adult living in the real world. There is so much to do, to enjoy, to learn before I graduate, that I'm not sure I'll have time to do it all. But I'm going to try, starting with my Senior Year Bucket List, then tackling a little reading....]

With graduation fast approaching, I am trying to cram in all the education and life lessons that I possibly can before I have to leave this place. I go to class, take notes, listen, and really try to absorb the teachings from all my amazing professors, teachers, and friends.

However, there are some life lessons that simply can’t be expressed in a quarter long class or in a classroom at all. There are just not enough practical classes that will ready us for life after graduation, or answer so many of the questions we don’t have the answers to. Like, how do I manage a checkbook? How do I find the perfect apartment in an unknown city? Am I going to stay in touch with all my friends post college? How do I make a cup of coffee? What am I actually going to do? Who will I become?

Since we don’t have much “real-world” experience yet, we can benefit and learn from others’ life experiences, stories, and knowledge. There is so much to be learned from other people, and thankfully, so many of those people have written their wisdom down for us.

So for all my fellow college-seniors-who-are-freaking-out-about-graduating-and-have-no-idea-what-they’re-doing, here are five great books by five great authors that might give us all a little insight and guidance. Read More »

When I got to college I thought I knew with 100% certainty that I wanted to be an English teacher. I spent my first two years fulfilling all of the requirements for the School of Ed and then spent the next two years preparing for my life in a high school classroom.

Only, upon graduation, I realized that I’d rather die than work with those ungrateful little bastards ever again teaching wasn’t for me.

And that’s when the sh*t hit the fan. You see, my parents’ generation was one where you get a job and do it until you retire at 65. It may not be ideal and you may not love it deep down in your core, but it’s a good job and you do it. You don’t take a year off and think about what you want to do; you don’t try out different fields and see which one makes you happy. You get a job, get off the family payroll and become an adult. Read More »

After graduating from Florida State less than a year ago, I made the big move to New York City. Yep, I did it. I joined the masses of aspiring writers, painters, singers, dancers, and just about every other “ers” you can think of. I’ve learned many lessons along the way, and while I’m still fresh into my twenties and still don’t know all that much, I can honestly say that, since graduation, I know a little more regarding work, friendships, and the opposite sex. The city does that to you, I guess.

Lately, I’ve been totally stressed about each of these aspects of life. Finding a meaningful career? Frustrating. Gaining true friendships? Hard. Meeting your soul mate? Yea, about that…. “WHERE IS HE ALREADY?” as Charlotte York would say. 

The other day as I was trekking through the aftermath of our most recent winter storm, I was contemplating it all. Thinking life is so unfair. That everyone else had everything in place where it should be, while all of my cards were spread out all over the table; and, oh yea, there’s one falling on the floor right now…and just as I was about to completely break down and scream at the top of my lungs, right there on the street (not that it would have phased any New Yorker), an entire sheet of ice and blocks of leftover snow decided to crumble and fall from the awning above, onto my head, at the exact moment in which I happened to pass by. Read More »