After Graduation – This Isn’t How I Pictured It

Only a few weeks ago, you joyously tossed your graduation cap high within the air along with your classmates in recognition of your lifetime achievement. You danced your way through parties and celebrated the end of your high school years. You even spent many days doing entirely nothing so as to clear your brain from all of the Senior Research Paper and Final Exam information that has been taking up way excessively much space. However, as now Labor Day approaches, it hits you. This is the first September ever that you remember not feeling the nervous anticipation of a new school year. After all the years of working to reach this goal, it’s kind of a let-down.

When you were younger, it’s likely that you thought that high school graduation meant the beginning of adultness. You would be living in a cool apartment, driving a great car either in the city or by the beach, and life would be awesome. Not precisely how you imagined it is it?

The actuality is, the transition to adultness doesn’t happen overnight just because you graduated from high school. It always takes time to get there and there will be uncertainties along the path. This can be one of the most frustrating spans of life. You feel like a grown-up. By law, you are an adult. Yet you may still be living in your childhood bedroom and treated like the same kid you were just a short time ago.

Hang in there. The journey towards full independence takes time, patience, and determination. Unfortunately, it also takes money. Be wise with the money you make and save for your dreams. Trust that the lessons you learned in high school, both in and out of the classroom, will serve you well. Remember the values you were raised with and don’t compromise your standards. Don’t let other people’s opinions determine your own. Live up to your responsibilities and be true to your word. These qualities make an adult regardless of chronological age. Family members and others you have known a long time may take some time to think of you as anything but a kid. In their minds, you are still a child. Act like an adult and you will prove yourself in time.