Hello beautiful people! Today is a pretty special day because Uniquely Mickie has it’s first guest post featuring one of my favorite college bloggers. Her name is Samantha Tetrault over at Samanthability so without further ado…let’s get onto the post!
The opinions of any guest posters are entirely of their own and may not represent the views of Uniquely Mickie.
It’s hard to believe I’ve already been out of college for almost half a year. Time has definitely flown by recently, and it feels so weird to not be starting classes this fall. I miss school so much, I’m in the process of applying to graduate programs in my local area so I can keep studying what I love. In light of the new semester, I wanted to share some of the things I wish I knew before graduating college!
Apply to jobs before you leave college
I started applying to jobs 4-6 months before I graduated, and my career counselor told me this was too late! Honestly, I think she was a bit crazy, and starting any earlier than that wouldn’t have made much sense. Because I applying to jobs while I was still in college, I was better prepared to financially transition from college to the “real world.”
Now, I work as a freelancer, and if I could go back I would have spent more time building my own business. Knowing what I do now, I would have liked to spend more time looking into my options for careers after graduation. I felt really lost and unsure of myself in the weeks leading up to graduation, and it took a few tries to figure out what I really wanted to do with my time.
Think about graduate school
In my senior year, I didn’t really give grad school much thought. As an English major, I couldn’t really find any logical reason to go to graduate school unless I planned to teach, which I didn’t. Now, I wish I had explored more options while I was still in college, because applying after graduation is a bigger hassle. Yes, I have more time to prepare for the GRE, but now I have to reach out to past professors which can be challenging since I’m no longer on campus. If I had thought about graduate school seriously sooner, I could have arranged professor recommendations and other application materials from the comfort of campus!
Spend time on campus
After my first year, I moved off campus. This worked for me since it was cheaper to live off campus, and I enjoyed the freedom. However, looking back on my time in college, I wish I spent more time on campus. I commuted 15 minutes each day to campus, and I missed out on a lot of local events on campus and around town.
Take advantage of everything
My biggest regret is waiting too long to take advantage of all the opportunities college has to offer. I spent the majority of my college experience working 25+ hours a week to pay my living expenses. Because I worked every day after classes, I was never able to join clubs or organizations.
It wasn’t until my last year of college that I cut back drastically on work hours and started to get involved. I was able to do an on-campus internship with the New Department which then led to me becoming the Editor in Chief of my college’s literary magazine. The latter became one of my greatest joys, and has led to a lot of opportunities after college. I wish I had time to discover these passions earlier!
Remember college isn’t everything
I think a lot of the fear that comes along with leaving college is rooted in this idea that college is the best time of your life. That’s what all the movies and TV shows say, right? Everyone says college is supposed to be the best four years of your life, so live it up while you can. Honestly, that’s a really depressing thought.
The truth is that college is great, but so is everything that comes after! I mean, I get to spend my days writing in my PJ’s and if that isn’t the American Dream than I don’t know what is. If you had a great college experience, that’s awesome! If you didn’t, that’s okay too!
The point is that college is temporary, and it is in no way the best experience of your life. You have the rest of your life to learn, make friends, and have fun! I wish I had someone to tell me that when I was having a nervous breakdown before graduation! Ultimately, I’m not going to tell you to make the most of college. I’m going to tell you to make the most of every day, because the fun doesn’t end after graduation!
Sam can be found at Samanthability.com where she blogs about the struggles of transitioning from college to the “real” world. When not writing, you can find her obsessing over books and watching bad reality TV from her home in Orlando, FL.
