Tag: career

Grad caps being thrown in the air

After the Cap & Gown: Advice for Life Post-Graduation

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There are many transitional periods in life, and graduating from college is one of the biggies. Whether you have a job lined up and plans laid out or you’re surveying an uncertain future, this step is significant. It can feel both exciting and daunting. For me, this year since graduation has been the catalyst for a lot of growth and self-discovery. Despite this, I wish I could have been a little better prepared for what this period would hold. I decided to write down my thoughts about life after graduation and ask my friends about their experiences. In the process of gathering all this together, I’ve learned a lot. I hope this is helpful for you as well.

When It Feels Like You’re the Only One “Not”

My husband is finishing his teaching credential. My best friend is operating her business. My college squad is achieving or about to achieve more than you could imagine: going to the best vet schools in the world, getting graduate degrees, killing the game in the professional world, and leading in ministry. They’re blazing their own paths and developing their futures. And here I am: not using my degree (which I’m so passionate about), not even working in my field, not living where I had wanted to live, and not being around all the people I so want to be with. And you know what? If I dwelled on those things, if I stayed in that mindset, I’d flounder and die.

It feels like I’m the only one “not.” I get so caught up in my friends’ successes and am genuinely happy for all of them, but alone, in the silence, I can be swallowed up by the “not.” And if I am swallowed up by what I am not being or what I am not doing, I become what I am not. Our self-talk truly can limit us, and if I say I am not enough, I will not be enough. Surrounded by success, I easily fall into feeling like a failure, but feeling that way is truly the only time I am failing myself. Comparing myself to others makes me identify myself by what feel I am not, instead of by who I am.

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