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After getting through childhood, elementary school, high school and college, young adults tend to figure they have conquered the world. Of course, grown adults know the fun has just begun.
Arguably, the biggest transition someone is going to experience within their lifetime is the transition from college to adulthood. After spending 16+ years learning math, science and a trade, the time has finally come when the learning is over and it’s time to test what one has learned.
There will be some urgency to begin working. If the individual has student loans to worry about, the urgency to get at it increases tenfold. It’s possible they already have a job offer waiting for them on graduation day.
Assuming your circumstances are similar and taking everything into consideration, there are some things you could do to make the transition into adulthood a little more comfortable and exciting. Let’s discuss that.
Take Time to Plan
Setting aside the urgency you might feel, you need to realize that for likely the first time in your life, everything spins on your decisions. This might shock you, but it’s not unreasonable for you to take a little time to make some plans for your life.
Here’s the thing, once you set sail on your career, that’s a hard boat to turn around. You’ll be working, might meet a significant other, might get married and have kids. That’s called living life. The time you have between college and living life might be the only time you have to catch your breath.
A plan for life is always a good thing. Yes, plans change, but a general plan gives you the opportunity to start moving in a certain direction. How about this? What if you were to take six months off and just think about the life you really want? If you have some financial resources, you can do a little traveling. You can start accumulating experiences. All the while, you can start looking at the things you really want in your life.
The most common mistake young adults make is rushing from point A to point B. Life is not a race. We live to be 70+ and our lives end up being the sum of our experiences no matter what we do. This transition time is your opportunity to properly chart your course and build up the energy to hit the ground running.
Maintaining Important Relationships
During this time of transition, you might find yourself drifting away from the family and friends that made you part of who you are today. Do you really want to let that happen?
Yes, friends do chart different courses. However, the notion we have to say goodbye to the old to make room for the new is sometimes wrong. As stated earlier, these are the people who are part of what you have become. From your real friendships, including those with family members, you can still maintain a tremendous support resource.
It takes work to maintain long-term friendships. After investing the time you have put into building the ones you have now, they might be worth protecting. A good friendship is never diminished by time or distance.
Caring for Yourself
In modern America, kids seem to stay attached to home longer than they did in past generations. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does delay kids learning to manage all aspects of their lives. You might want to take this time of transition to do things like learn to cook or manage your personal finances.
Managing Student Debt
There’s a good chance you have student debt to address. Now is the time to learn about managing personal finances. If you’ve finally graduated from college and need to start building your savings and paying off debt, you need to make sure you also have enough money on the side in case of an emergency. Understand the different types of financing options out there – like online loan lenders – should you ever find yourself in an unexpected financial pinch. Mortgages, auto loans, and student loans are all varying types of financial aid with their own use cases and terms. Managing debt requires you to understand the ins and outs of each type that you have, or might have, in the coming years of adulthood.
As you set the course for your life, a good start is essential. Sans certain circumstances, you could reap some great benefits by taking this time of transition to make sure the direction you are heading is what you really want.
