Looking back, though, much has happened in the past year. It seems I’ve learned a lot while Ke$ha put a dollar sign in her name and started brushing her teeth with a “bottle of Jack,” John Mayer proclaimed that he is on the search for “the Joshua Tree of vaginas,” and the Jersey Shore became a national phenomenon.

So here (in no particular order) is what I know for certain after turning 21. Perhaps you youngsters can take a few things from this:

1. Friendships should make you happy — not pissed off : Friends should be so much more than people you dance on tables with and dish about the weekend to. They should be there for you, and you should be there for them. They also should not steal your alcohol on your 21^st birthday and make out with the fraternity guy, all while puking as your boyfriend helps take care of them.

2. Raincoats are amazing: They are often understated and overwhelmingly overlooked when it comes to fashion. But even if they aren’t fashionable, really, you can’t complain when that slicker keeps your from frizzing. Without a rain jacket I wouldn’t have made it through the summer in London. And I think it actually kept me going to class this past semester. Why didn’t I realize this sooner? It doesn’t matter if you have a basic from Lands End or a super sexy trench from Dillards, just get one!

3. Go to the gym: Surprisingly enough, it is worth your time. Who knew? I sure didn’t, until I started going religiously with my boyfriend back in September. If you actually go to the gym and do more than hang out on the treadmill and elliptical for thirty minutes, you can see results. Plus, it teaches you patience on so many different levels.

4. Do not drink MD 20/20: Even if the frat-mixed mojitos are watered down and tasting a bit like a dirty dance floor, stay away from the MD.

5. Do experience a Pimms with Lemonade: Although you probably have never heard of this drink before, Pimms with Lemonade is a London pub staple. The Pimms is to Wimbledon, as the mint julep is to the Kentucky Derby. This fresh tasting, fruity cocktail will may be enough to convince you to study abroad for a semester. It’s to die for.

6. Puppy Love = True Love: Dogs truly give the most unconditional love. Even though my boyfriend got a dog back in September and it has been a ton of work, I can’t help but keep falling in love with the little darling. You can’t have a bad day whenever a puppy is around. However, at the same time, the realization that having a puppy is a huge responsibility is constant and serves as amazing birth control for many, many years to come.

7. The VS Miraculous Push Up Bra is a miracle: The Victoria’s Secret new Miraculous Push Up bra is the greatest and latest thing to come into the world of retail. With a level 5 design to push up and lift, this push up bra is not playing around – it increases your breast size by two full cups. Unlike a lot of push up bras, this bra actually makes your boob size look believable, all while supplying comfort.

8. Hell No to the Snow: I can never live where it snows on a daily basis during the winter. After what I deemed the Great Snow of ’09 in Virginia (in which 24 inches of snow fell in two days), this has re-arranged my life geographically for good. Those applications to Illinois for graduate school?  Out the window. My dream of always visiting Maine? Only if it’s summer.  Multiple inches of snow at a time? No thanks.

9. Reading is magical: Taking the time to read for pleasure in between reading for class is one of the best ways to relax. This past year, I have rediscovered my love for reading, all while falling in love with some great stories. Need something to restart your love of reading? Read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon or Train to Trieste by Domnica Radulescu.

10. “That’s So You!” It’s important to have your signature piece, be it clothing, music or opinion. This has made my life simpler and more defined.

11.  Meeting the Parents: Meeting the parents is scary. However, whether they like you or not is out of your hands. You can be the sweetest girl they have ever met, but if they don’t like the idea of their kid being with someone without the qualifications they are looking for (i.e.: money, a professional school degree), it doesn’t matter how amazing you are or how much you have going on for yourself. Just accept it and try not to take it to heart … too much.

12.  Post-Grad is intimidating: Graduate, law, and business school applications are a lot more comprehensive than they lead you to believe on first glance. Those statements of intent and optional essays are really unlike anything you have written in the past, unless you are a professional graduate school applicant. Starting early is the only way to preserve your sanity as senior year rolls around. And taking the GRE or LSAT, well those should have occurred a year ago. Oops!

13.  “Welcome to the real world, she said to me…:” Although the quarter-life crisis often seems inevitable, I have learned that I definitely do not want to go down the John Mayer permanent-existential-life-crisis road. While his never-ending misery will supply good music for more and more years to come (without a doubt), I choose to not dwell. It’s much healthier this way, even if I do enjoy indulging in his misery sometimes.

14.  Stop reading beauty magazines: I’ve stopped buying magazines and I feel much more enlightened.  Instead, I have stopped giving my $3.99 to advice on how to make a man moan and enjoy the in-depth features in the feminist friendly Bust magazine, and the musically progressive Paste.

15.  Give a Little Bit: Helping others is amazing and it makes you feel better than anything else can.

16.  It’s Overrated: Being a senior is overrated. I have had more work and more responsibility than ever before and I feel like with every passing day, more and more obligations come my way. While it seems that a lot of seniors are spending their nights partying and hanging out, I am writing 20-page papers and doing graduate school rain dances to promote a surplus of acceptance letters.

17.  To Thine Own Self, Be True: To be a writer, you need to have extremely thick skin. Regardless of what your stance is, someone is always going to go against it and you have to be true to yourself and the piece you are writing. The same goes for all facets of life; you gotta be you and that’s that.

18.  Big birthday parties don’t prove anything: Big birthday parties aren’t all that they are cracked up to be. After years of over-the-top Disney birthday,  the whole high school teenage hang-out-birthday scene, and the exuberantly drunk and pretentiously planned college birthday, I will take the quiet and intimate birthday dinner over anything else.  It’s better to celebrate with those that actually matter.

19.  Lady Gaga is a goddess: She’s given us greatness, i.e.: “I’m bluffin’ with my muffin,” disco-bras, “Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah-ah! Roma-roman-mamaa! Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!,” and perhaps the greatest line of them, “I’m a free bitch, baby!” Her stage presence is to die for, and her genuine, authentic, down-to-Earth personality (come on, didn’t you see her on Oprah?) is addictive. Plus, I’ve seen a slew of live performances and I have to say, Gaga outperforms the rest with her Monster Ball.

20.  Say No to Parent Drama: If your parents are magnificent – great. If they aren’t, it is time to accept it and move on, instead of constantly wishing for your mother to be someone she is not.

21.  The Little Things Count: It’s important to relish the little things. In college, so much happens at once, it feels like the world can pass you by – especially once you turn 21 and the end of college seems very near. The most important lesson I’ve learned is to take time doing something you enjoy. It doesn’t matter if you want to get crazy drunk on a Friday night or take an extra art class, but do what gives you the most pleasure. Make time for more sex. Make time to cook dinner with your roommates. Just make time! As each year goes by, it is also important to look back to see what you’ve learned (whether it’s good, bad, ugly, or silly).

[This post is a favorite of CollegeCandy fan, Rose...and also of The Huffington Post. So Yay Charlsie...and thanks Rose for picking out one of the best!]

After months of studying and working my post-grad ass off for the LSAT, I finally got my score. After weeks of waiting and anxious e-mail checking (I had to remove email messages from my Blackberry because every time my phone lit up or beeped, my heart would stop), the message letting me know whether or not I’d be able to apply to the schools I’m interested in or not appeared. As the message sat in my inbox, I took a deep breath to see the reality of what I’ve worked so hard for.

And instantly, I felt disappointed.  See, because I have student loans from undergrad, I am very cautious about paying for law school. In order to combat massive amounts of student loans, my goal was to go to law school with the bulk of my expenses paid for or a full-scholarship. Depending on what law school you want to go to, the option of a scholarship could be determined by one to two points. And unfortunately, where I want to be and the amount of money I want is not a reality right now. Talk about a cold hard slap in the face!

With months of dedicated LSAT studying behind me, I feel discouraged. If money wasn’t an issue, I would just dust myself off, suck it up, take the test again and not worry about the outcome or the prospective costs. However, money to pay for school is the end-all-be-all for me right now (you know, unless I win the lottery or the Publisher’s Clearing House comes to my place with a big check and balloons). It sucks, but hey, a girl has to look at the big picture and consider everything.

A lot of people feel the liberty to say “told you so” to me right now. However, feeling a setback from the score doesn’t surprise me like some may think. My goals and scholarship options were set very high. I went into this knowing the very specific set scores for different schools and what it would take to get the money I need. Trust me, it’s been on my mind for months.

To be honest, the LSAT is a beast of a test. It’s something you have to work at, and I feel confident in my ability to score where I want. But right now, I can’t help but pause. Is the universe trying to tell me something? First, the score from my December exam and now, the most recent New York Times article entitled “Is Law School A Losing Game?” Call me crazy, but I believe that things happen for a reason. Sometimes the reason doesn’t make sense initially, and well, that completely sucks at the moment, but I like to believe in the long-run it makes sense. Right now, I feel like analyzing everything before I decide my next move is key.

But just like a lot of post-grad decisions, the answers to what to do next don’t come easy. Do I want to go to law school? Yes. Do I want to add $160,000 of debt on top of my undergrad loans? Hell no. Do I want to take the LSAT again in hopes of getting what I want? Yes. But should I even have those expectations? I don’t know.

Regardless, I’ll let you guys know. With so much to look forward to in the coming months and the longer I am out of college, I know things have to look up.

Where is Charlsie going next? Where is she coming from? Get all your answers here.

Just last February, I was planning my 21^st birthday party. Now, I’m facing 22 (or as I like to call it 21+1) straight on. Even though the last twelve months have gone by, it feels like just yesterday I was indulging in jello shots and margaritas. For my 21st. Because just yesterday I was indulging in jello shots and margaritas.

Looking back though, much has happened in the past year. It seems I’ve learned a lot while Ke$ha put a dollar sign in her name and started brushing her teeth with a “bottle of Jack,” John Mayer proclaimed that he is on the hunt for “the Joshua Tree of vaginas,” and the Jersey Shore became a national phenomenon.

So here (in no particular order) is what I know for certain after turning 21. Perhaps you youngsters can take a few things from this:

1. Friendships should make you happy — not pissed off : Friends should be so much more than people you dance on tables with and dish about the weekend to. They should be there for you, and you should be there for them. They also should not steal your alcohol on your 21^st birthday and make out with the fraternity guy, all while puking as your boyfriend helps take care of them.

2. Raincoats are amazing: They are often understated and overwhelmingly overlooked when it comes to fashion. But even if they aren’t fashionable (and there are plenty that are!), really, you can’t complain when that slicker keeps your from frizzing. Without a rain jacket I wouldn’t have made it through the summer in London. And I think it actually kept me going to class this past semester. Why didn’t I realize this sooner? It doesn’t matter if you have a basic from Lands End or a super sexy trench from Dillards, just get one!

3. Go to the gym: Surprisingly enough, it is worth your time. Who knew? I sure didn’t, until I started going religiously with my boyfriend back in September. If you actually go to the gym and do more than hang out on the treadmill and elliptical for thirty minutes, you can see results. Plus, it teaches you patience on so many different levels.

4. Do not drink MD 20/20: Even if the frat-mixed mojitos are watered down and tasting a bit like a dirty dance floor, stay away from the MD.

5. Do experience a Pimms with Lemonade: Although you probably have never heard of this drink before, Pimms with Lemonade is a London pub staple. The Pimms is to Wimbledon, as the mint julep is to the Kentucky Derby. This fresh tasting, fruity cocktail will may be enough to convince you to study abroad for a semester. It’s to die for.

6. Puppy Love = True Love: Dogs truly give the most unconditional love. Even though my boyfriend got a dog back in September and it has been a ton of work, I can’t help but keep falling in love with the little darling. You can’t have a bad day whenever a puppy is around. However, at the same time, the realization that having a puppy is a huge responsibility is constant and serves as amazing birth control for many, many years to come.

7. The VS Miraculous Push Up Bra is a miracle: The Victoria’s Secret new Miraculous Push Up bra is the greatest and latest thing to come into the world of retail. With a level 5 design to push up and lift, this push up bra is not playing around – it increases your breast size by two full cups. Unlike a lot of push up bras, this bra actually makes your boob size look believable, all while supplying comfort.

8. Hell No to the Snow: I can never live where it snows on a daily basis during the winter. After what I deemed the Great Snow of ’09 in Virginia (in which 24 inches of snow fell in two days), this has re-arranged my life geographically for good. Those applications to Illinois for graduate school?  Out the window. My dream of always visiting Maine? Only if it’s summer.  Multiple inches of snow at a time? No thanks.

9. Reading is magical: Taking the time to read for pleasure in between reading for class is one of the best ways to relax. This past year, I have rediscovered my love for reading, all while falling in love with some great stories. Need something to restart your love of reading? Read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon or Train to Trieste by Domnica Radulescu.

10. “That’s So You!” It’s important to have your signature piece, be it clothing, music or opinion. This has made my life simpler and more defined.

11.  Meeting the Parents: Meeting the parents is scary. However, whether they like you or not is out of your hands. You can be the sweetest girl they have ever met, but if they don’t like the idea of their kid being with someone without the qualifications they are looking for (i.e.: money, a professional school degree), it doesn’t matter how amazing you are or how much you have going on for yourself. Just accept it and try not to take it to heart … too much.

12.  Post-Grad is intimidating: Graduate, law, and business school applications are a lot more comprehensive than they lead you to believe on first glance. Those statements of intent and optional essays are really unlike anything you have written in the past, unless you are a professional graduate school applicant. Starting early is the only way to preserve your sanity as senior year rolls around. And taking the GRE or LSAT, well those should have occurred a year ago. Oops!

13.  “Welcome to the real world, she said to me…:” Although the quarter-life crisis often seems inevitable, I have learned that I definitely do not want to go down the John Mayer permanent-existential-life-crisis road. While his never-ending misery will supply good music for more and more years to come (without a doubt), I choose to not dwell. It’s much healthier this way, even if I do enjoy indulging in his misery sometimes.

14.  Stop reading beauty magazines: I’ve stopped buying magazines and I feel much more enlightened.  Instead, I have stopped giving my $3.99 to advice on how to make a man moan and enjoy the in-depth features in the feminist friendly Bust magazine, and the musically progressive Paste.

15.  Give a Little Bit: Helping others is amazing and it makes you feel better than anything else can.

16.  It’s Overrated: Being a senior is overrated. I have had more work and more responsibility than ever before and I feel like with every passing day, more and more obligations come my way. While it seems that a lot of seniors are spending their nights partying and hanging out, I am writing 20-page papers and doing graduate school rain dances to promote a surplus of acceptance letters.

17.  To Thine Own Self, Be True: To be a writer, you need to have extremely thick skin. Regardless of what your stance is, someone is always going to go against it and you have to be true to yourself and the piece you are writing. The same goes for all facets of life; you gotta be you and that’s that.

18.  Big birthday parties don’t prove anything: Big birthday parties aren’t all that they are cracked up to be. After years of over-the-top Disney birthday,  the whole high school teenage hang-out-birthday scene, and the exuberantly drunk and pretentiously planned college birthday, I will take the quiet and intimate birthday dinner over anything else.  It’s better to celebrate with those that actually matter.

19.  Lady Gaga is a goddess: She’s given us greatness, i.e.: “I’m bluffin’ with my muffin,” disco-bras, “Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah-ah! Roma-roman-mamaa! Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!,” and perhaps the greatest line of them, “I’m a free bitch, baby!” Her stage presence is to die for, and her genuine, authentic, down-to-Earth personality (come on, didn’t you see her on Oprah?) is addictive. Plus, I’ve seen a slew of live performances and I have to say, Gaga outperforms the rest with her Monster Ball.

20.  Say No to Parent Drama: If your parents are magnificent – great. If they aren’t, it is time to accept it and move on, instead of constantly wishing for your mother to be someone she is not.

21.  The Little Things Count: It’s important to relish the little things. In college, so much happens at once, it feels like the world can pass you by – especially once you turn 21 and the end of college seems very near. The most important lesson I’ve learned is to take time doing something you enjoy. It doesn’t matter if you want to get crazy drunk on a Friday night or take an extra art class, but do what gives you the most pleasure. Make time for more sex. Make time to cook dinner with your roommates. Just make time! As each year goes by, it is also important to look back to see what you’ve learned (whether it’s good, bad, ugly, or silly).

[This story was originally posted by Charlsie - Hollins University.]

Likey? Don’t worry, there are plenty more faves where this came from.

I never thought this day would come. I’ve spent countless hours taking prep classes, practice tests, doing timed sections, going over my mistakes, cranking out logic games, reasoning with myself over logical reasoning, and reading about some of the most obscene topics for the reading comprehension section, all in preparation for this day. A day I’m not sure I’m mentally prepared for; practice vs. the real deal … well, it seems so much different.

However, I have to say – I’m relieved it’s here. In fact, you could almost say that I’m pumped and ready to go. I’ve worked my ass off, and I’m ready to see the fruits of my post-grad labor. Over the last few months, there have been a million other things I rather do than answer assumption and inference questions, but I’ve sucked it up and knocked it out.

Although I’m one of those Nervous Nancy’s when it comes to test taking, I’m trying to not let my nerves get in the way of everything I’ve accomplished since July. When I first started studying for the LSAT, I never dreamed that I could do as well as I have been doing. In fact, I never anticipated that I would spend as much time as I have. But the process has been rewarding, and it’s made me want to go to law school even more. If anything, I feel like this process has taught me that I really can do anything I want, if I just dedicate the right amount of time and effort into it.

But what will I do after the LSAT? Oh yeah … apply to law schools. So, the process really isn’t over yet. Thank goodness though because what would a post-grad do without something to keep her busy? And speaking of busy, I have four days left – so I might as keep up my crazy schedule because at this point, it’s do or die, sink or swim — and I’m sure ready to swim through the sections of this test until I’m blue in the face.

Wish me luck!

1. Graduation gifts – Luckily when you graduate, people give you gifts and money and things that you need. Even though these gifts are like “Hey, you’re out of college now and you’re kinda on your own so here is some luggage,” they make transitioning very happy.

2. I’m cafeteria free – Albeit eating in a dining hall and having a meal plan is convenient, not having to eat food made for 800 people is a dream. Do you know how amazing it is to eat food that is warm and flavorful? Maybe my alma mater wasn’t too fabulous in the food department (minus the Swedish meatballs … I lived for those), so I’m alone on this one, but I’ll take making myself food any day over dining hall slop.

3. I can wear my underwear whenever I want – Seriously, every time I would just want to veg out in my dorm room and just comfortably enjoy being in my underwear (with a bag of chips), someone would knock. (Editor’s Note: Thank god they didn’t just walk in. Awkward!) And you know, then you have to get up, put on pants, and open the door. Not now. I can wear my underwear all day and no one bothers me. Hooray!

4. No drama – Getting away from college has been a blessing. No gossip. No drama. Just memories and keeping-in-touch with those I want to (and staying far, far away from those I don’t).  I don’t have to deal with classroom politics, and I don’t have to deal with drunken sorority girls elbowing me on dance floors. It’s great being able to step back from the stuff that made me go “Ughh, I’m so over it.”

5. I have a degree– Even though it may not be enough to find the kind of job I want, I’m glad I have my Bachelors and I’m glad I worked my ass off to get it. College went fast, but the knowledge and the subjects that interest me will last a lifetime. No complaints there!

6. A Change of Scenery – Moving to California has taken me completely out of my element. I spent four years in Virginia, surrounded by mountains. Growing up, I lived in the suburbs of Atlanta. And now, I’m three minutes from the beach, 30 minutes to Los Angeles, 90 minutes to San Diego, and the majority of the weather is in the 70s. And it. is. glorious.

7. My own schedule – Nothing is better than sleeping in on a Wednesday just because I felt like it. I didn’t have the pleasure of doing that in college, so even though some people may think this qualifies me as a slacker, I love it. I can stay up late, sleep in late. I can nap when I want. I study for the LSAT and get what I need done, and I do so on my own schedule. Sometimes being jobless is amazing!

8. I do what I want – It’s as simple as that. I don’t have professor meetings to attend. I don’t have extra-curriculars to worry about. I don’t have some set schedule every day of the week. I can wake up when I want. I can go to bed when I want. I can do what I want. I can plan the future that I want. I have one person to really focus on and that’s myself. And it’s great.

What do you love about being a post-grad?

Everyone has a story. And while my post-grad journey has so far revolved around moving to California, interning, working odd jobs here and there, and studying for the LSAT to attend law school next year, I know that my story isn’t a typical after-college route. In fact, I don’t think there is a typical after-college route, which is why life after college is so exciting and so scary. It varies from person to person and it’s difficult for every individual post-grad to gauge their success when there’s nothing to compare it to.

Sometimes I like to pretend that I’m living a different post-grad life than I am. I even sometimes think about marketing post-grad stories to Bravo or MTV because everyone I know seems to have their own story. Some lives are more stressful than others, and some are boring. Some people are still strictly obsessed with college and continue to spend the majority of their new existence going back. Some post-grads are completely different than a year ago.

But they are all interesting in their own right.

I know my personal experience, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking and wondering about other post-grad scenarios. For example:

The Working Girl: Since I haven’t joined the work force, I can’t help but dream about what it would be like if I was working 9 to 5 every day, sitting in a cubicle, wear high heels and black dress pants, and eating soggy sandwiches for lunch. And then I wonder if any of it would be like that anyways. Would I be happy or bored or content? Who knows.

The Grad Student: Imagine if I was writing this CollegeCandy series as a first year graduate student, whether it was for law school or some other graduate program, I wonder if I would be swamped with work or bored with my classes. I’m sure I would be writing about my classmates and the transition into a higher education setting outside of college. Would I even consider myself a post-grad if I was in school?

The Gap Year: And then there’s the daydream of taking what is known as a gap year abroad. I could have spent the summer in South Africa with my sister, traveling through Capetown, having monkeys on Table Mountain open my car door and dig in my purse. Or I could have gone to Thailand and done some undercover journalism there on the sex trafficking. Or I could have gone to Europe and ate my way through one country to the next, putting on twenty pounds as I tore through croissants and crepes and macaroons and pretzels.

The lessons I would learn in each of these scenarios would be different, and the ups and the downs would vary – however, they would still exist regardless of the reality. While college generally was a more hands-on experience (with professors and parents and friends and Greek life and grades influencing everything), I love post-grad because it’s just me flying solo and teaching myself as much as I can. But really … I wish I had a TV show to live vicariously through my other fellow post-grads.

While the reality of my life right now could have been a variety of different options, I can’t help but think this route is the one for me. And the route that other post-grads go down is the one for them. But wouldn’t it be cool if all our stories could be collected? Seriously … if those 16 and Pregnant girls can get their own hour, I think every post-grad story is worth an hour too.

So, my fellow CollegeCandy readers, we may not have our own reality show, but I still want to know … what are you planning your post-grad to be or what is the reality of your post-grad life today? We all have a story to tell, and I want to hear yours!

So, here’s the ultimate post-grad survival kit (or at least what I’ve figured out over the last six months):

1. Stay Busy – Keep your ass moving at all times. Don’t hang out on the couch day after day, keep busy – whether it’s working a job, interning, or taking pottery classes.  Do anything that will keep you busy. I’ve thrown myself into the LSAT, and trust me, it’s kept me occupied. Who knows how I’ll feel once my LSAT journey is over, but for now … it’s what I do to keep busy. Busy leaves little room to do #2.

2. Don’t reminisce too much – If you do nothing but think about college, you’re going to do nothing but miss college. Avoid this as much as you can. If something comes up in conversation, talk about it, but don’t sit in your room and look at pictures from your sophomore year every night. It’s okay to admit that college was one of the best times of your life, but it’s not okay to let that ‘best time of your life’ define the rest of your life. You should have the attitude that the best is yet to come and college was just a stepping stone. Or yeah, you’ll be depressed like all those articles say.

3. Do something you didn’t do in college – Find a new hobby or something you didn’t participate in throughout college. For example, I have never been a runner. And I wouldn’t call myself a runner even now. But since graduation, I have clocked in many miles on the boardwalk (this is a plus of living in CA) and on the treadmill as I possibly can. My college self wouldn’t have taken the time to just run. Doing something that you aren’t used to doing shows you that more things exist than what you thought about in college. It can be anything:  take up painting, wine tastings, or knitting. Join a gym. Become a mentor. Anything you didn’t do in college.

4. Change it up – Your overall appearance probably didn’t change too much throughout college. Now that you’re a post-grad, you should definitely change something … even if it’s something small. Cut your hair. Paint your nails a color you would never wear in college (I was afraid of black nail polish in college, but now I love it). Change your style. While I don’t think you should abandon yourself from the last four years, a little update won’t hurt. It will make you feel better about yourself and it will signify this new, mature stage in your life.

5. Be serious – While you may have had an attitude that says “I don’t care” in college, it’s time to get serious about your future. You definitely don’t have to have anything figured out, but you should be serious about getting to whatever point you want in your life next. If you don’t know what you want to do (seriously, who truly knows what they want to do?), you should do everything to try to figure it out. Be serious about this. It may have been cool in high school and sometimes in college to be a slacker or to just not care , but you should be able to seriously talk about what you want.

6. Change Your Mind – In college, I had everything planned out and followed a strict routine when it came to everything –  I never changed my mind. However, the most important thing post-grad has taught me is that changing your mind can be a gift. One day, you want to intern somewhere and the next day you don’t. It may not be on the path you wanted, but you figured out why and it’s a big eye-opener. The only way to figure things out is to make mistakes and to change your mind. It sounds like something out of a self-help book, but I seriously think this has been the most beneficial thing overall.

I know I’m not the only post-grad over here at CollegeCandy, so tell me … what are your ultimate survival tips for being a post-grad?

Post-grad life is a lot about taking two steps forward only to take a step back. Some days, you feel like you’re ahead of whatever curve you’ve set for yourself and then other days, you feel like you’re falling behind. Although you have a lot more freedom and responsibility than life as a college student, the constant evolution of figuring out what to do next and what’s right is never ending.

Example: Two months ago, I scored what I considered to be my dream internship. I was meeting and interviewing celebrities, hanging out at some of the fanciest Hollywood locations, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous at LA parties, frequenting red carpet events, and finding out celebrity gossip before the masses. And now, well … I decided this isn’t for me. There I go again. Two steps forward, and now that I quit, I feel like I’m one step back again. When can a girl get ahead?

In college, I feel like everything was a constant one-up. You know, where you out-do yourself and then you’re like “Damn! Look at what I accomplished.” Post-grad is more of a sporadic line graph that goes all over the place, where you have highs and lows and they fluctuate more than Lady Gaga’s outfits. While I like to think that all of this yo-yoing will get me to where I want to be, it can feel a little frustrating.

Why did I quit though? Well, after a month on, I simply knew that it wasn’t for me. Looking back to my sophomore or junior year college self, that kind of internship had me written all over it. Now? … Not so much. Although I enjoyed my time and experiences (so much of it was hands-on, which is rare at internships), I just knew that it wasn’t the best for me … especially since it was unpaid.

Unlike college, there are a lot more expenses that come your way on the post-grad journey. For example: Student loan repayment (can I just tell you that I cried over this for days when I got my first loan repayment bill?), law school admissions fees (do you even know how expensive this is? I don’t even want to talk about it), and so many other random things that happen (like for example, my computer just died….and I spent over $400 to be told that by Geek Squad…ouch). It’s just not practical to spend my time interning for no pay, especially since 90% of my time was spent sitting in my car in LA traffic. So, while I wanted to keep interning … it’s just not practical. Quitting felt like one of those forced break-ups. I wanted it, but at the same time, not so much.

So now I’m back at square one, trying to figure out just what it is I should be doing.

So much for post-grad stability, right?

Graduation feels like it was yesterday so I couldn’t believe my eyes when I received an e-mail from my alma mater’s class reporter. For the first time, the class reporter wasn’t requesting class donations (thank goodness – nothing makes me more irritated than being asked to donate a couple hundred bucks when I have a couple thousand bucks worth of student loans to think about). Instead, she was asking for the class of 2010’s first official alumnae updates for the next alumnae magazine!

Updates? UPDATES? We have been out of school for, what, a hot second and you want updates? About JOBS AND MARRIAGES?! Do people even get jobs married straight of college anymore? Seriously. It’s been 6 freaking months!

After going through the e-mail (and breathing into a brown paper bag), I couldn’t help but think of the classic 1997 girl-comedy, Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion. Although the girls attend their 10 year high school reunion (not just send in an update), they go to any means necessary to appear fabulous and accomplished – even making up a story about inventing Post-Its. While Romy and Michelle didn’t have too much to show after ten years out of high school, they were determined to appear like they have made something of themselves – even though the majority of their classmates were just like them and had nothing to report back either.

I totally feel for Romy and Michelle now.

There is just so much pressure on all of us to report something back. But really, what is there to say when graduation took place in May? Who wants to write that after graduating from college with honors they are working part-time at the local grocery store and paying off student loans, while they look for a “real” job? Who wants to report that they are living in their parents’ basement because, despite applying to 10 jobs a day, they can’t find anything? That their only accomplishments are watching How I Met Your Mother seasons 1-4 and the complete series of Dawson’s Creek?

No one, that’s who.

While I know the majority of my classmates (and the entire class of 2010) are in the same post-grad boat as me, I also know that human beings by nature are always in competition with each other; always wanting to be the best and get there the fastest. And this update request proves it. I know some people genuinely want to know what everyone is up to, but I think deep down, people want an update to see where they stand. To validate their post-grad lives.

And I refuse to give them that validation. The truth is, I may not have invented Post-Its and I may not even have a real, paying job, but it doesn’t mean anything…especially only six months out. Everyone has a different post-grad journey and what I’m doing now is not a sign of my abilities or success.

Unfortunately though, it’s pretty hard to convince the masses otherwise. Upon meeting someone for the first time, I feel like I always have to defend myself as a “post-grad” because the bulk of people I’m meeting are either unemployed and unmotivated, still in college, or are at least ten years older than me – and they have no clue. You would think that having some kind of detailed plan such as the LSAT and freelance writing to fall back on would help, but no – it just leaves people scratching their heads.

If they’re not scratching their heads, I get a lot of “You must miss college.” Uh, duh. Of course I miss a lot of things about college (there’s a reason people refer to it as the best time of their lives), but considering I have only been a “graduate” for the past few months, it’s not something I’m sulking over too much. And in all reality, I miss a lot of things a lot more than college — you know, things like not having to pay back student loans!

The assumption (hello, LSAT question type) that gets me the most is that I have all the time in the world. Just because I’m a post-grad doesn’t mean I have an endless amount of free time. In fact, I think I had way more free time during college than I do now. Sorry BFFs, I don’t have four hours to talk to you on Facebook chat. No, sorry new girl, I’m not available twenty-four-seven to lunch, brunch, and shop-til-we drop. This new life is all about scheduling, planning, and working hard.

It’s not that I don’t want to veg out sometimes, but I don’t think that I want to get into the habit of doing so because, well … I don’t want to turn into that post-grad stereotype. Instead, I want to set my own post-grad norm – even if that means occasionally crying over my LSAT practice, sitting in traffic for two hours from one Hollywood event to another, or relaxing at the end of the day to an episode of Dawson’s Creek (confession – I love the adolescent drama!). It may be a bumpy, tiring, frustrating road, but I’m out there doing what I have to do — and I haven’t given up.

I know I’m not alone in the post-grad world. So, tell me – what post-grad stereotype are you setting for yourself?