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?

After the novelty of college graduation (and all the great gifts that came with it) wore off, I spent a year crying myself to sleep. And I’m not exaggerating. While being done with school after 16 years was pretty liberating, not knowing what was coming next scared the sh*t out of me. And the fact that no one ever warned me how difficult being an adult would be made things a whole lot harder.

I went through a lot that first year – looking for a job, moving to a new city, ending a long relationship, and learning how to care for myself, to name a few – all by myself and now feel that I have the experience and knowledge to advise others on the transition. Because it’s a hard one and every college grad should know that they are not alone. Come back every week for another nugget of information to help you survive in the big, bad world.

The hardest part of graduating college is not the fact that your friends are now spread all over the country. It is not the fact that you can no longer party 6 nights a week with $1 pitchers. It isn’t even the whole “getting a job” thing (even now).

The hardest part is having no freaking clue how to do anything.

How do you find an apartment? What do you look for? How much can you afford to spend? Should you move to a city to find a job, or find a job then move to that city? Where do you meet people? What kind of health insurance do you need? Wait, some jobs don’t offer health insurance? OMG – what is health insurance?!

It’s all scary and overwhelming and makes you want to pack your bags, head back to campus and spend the next 60 years eating Ramen in front of the TV. But don’t fret just yet. There are some really good resources out there to help you survive the most difficult transition of your life. (Seriously, junior high to high school was nothing like this!)

The best one: Grads Take Charge: Your First Year After College.

Having this book around when I graduated would have saved a lot of heartache, tissues, and Oreo Cakesters. I’m not kidding. This post-graduation bible is written by tons of people who have been in your shoes before and offer real information and real advice for dealing with all the hard stuff that comes your way. And, trust me, hard stuff is coming your way.

Not only does it answer all the questions that you are inevitably going to have (like, “What the hell is a 401K?”), but it also answers all the questions you never even thought to ask (like, “Is there a washer and dryer in this building or do I have to walk 6 blocks to wash my undies?”).  It is also chock full of advice and tips from people who traveled this rocky road in the past and know what you are going through.

Think of this book as your GPS on the long and confusing road that is the year after graduation.  Only without the annoying sultry lady voice interrupting your favorite jams on the radio.

I look back at my first year after college and still get chills down my spine. It was a tough one, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have sought out a therapist (or ended up in an apartment with no closets) if I’d had a book like this around. If you get ANYTHING for graduation this year, I am telling you, it needs to be this book. And a comfy mattress.  That is the best advice I can give you.

[Come back every week for more tips and advice for the real world. If you have any questions or topics you’d like addressed, email editor@collegecandy.com!]

Well, apparently life hasn’t stopped piling on the sh*t, because last night I was dumped by my LDR. Cool, huh? That’s what I said.

But f*ck it, it’s the weekend! I say forget the life dump and decide to dump your life in favor of a f*cking good time!

So here, I provide you with my Break-Up Survival Kit, so you can get back on your feet and back into the bar!

1)Chamomile Tea Bags- Soak them in some cold water, squeeze them out and place them over your puffy eyes. Do this a few times and your eyes are guaranteed not to look as swollen as they were last night. Plus, the smell is rather soothing as well! Double duty.

2)Your Possee- You need your support system. So call until they pick up and then wail and wail and wail. They will understand that you need them. Then tell them that tomorrow they must drag you out to a bar for a girls night. You might even score a few free drinks! Love the ladies!

4)Your drug of choice- If you feel it coming (like I did, I have great intution) get a little drunk first. Yes, it will make you more emotional and probably more irrational but who the hell isn’t both of things when you’re getting broken up with anyways.

But don’t buy in mass quantities. Go small—like beers or airplane bottles—because you probably won’t want to stop drinking. But you must! I then like to end the night with a few sleeping pills just to round off the whole sh*tty experience. At least you won’t be tossing and turning!

5)Lots of DVD’s of your favorite dramatic TV Show- You’re going to sob a few more times anyways so go ahead and watch a sappy movie or TV show (not a love story though,…stay away from The Notebook) Let those tears flow! Get that sh*t out!

And then when you get around to thinking about the failed relationship, your eyes will be all dried up and you can (maybe? possibly?) be rational about the whole thing.

6)Make plans—lots of plans—for the next week. Fill that calendar up with fun things you like to do. I have a Monday night Girl’s night with my friend MK, plans to go to yoga this week, get my desk out of storage and set my room up (since I have lived here since July). I’m taking, well forcing myself, to recognize the me time I haven’t been making. And now is the time to do it.

So get drunk, have fun, go out with the girls! Download Breakin’ Up by Rilo Kiley because it’s a great, upbeat breakup song!

Appreciate the relationship for what it was and don’t wallow in what could have been, start looking at what will be… You, happy and healthy.