Author: Emma Poliseno
Graduating college and being sent out into the “real world” is equally the first big whirlwind us twenty something’s go through. All of sudden everything changes and there are a million and a half questions. What do I do next? Do I jump right into getting a job? Can I find a job? Do I move back home? This last question becomes the dilemma for the majority us.
Typically for the past four years we’ve been living away from home, on or off campus, near our college or university, and have had the beautiful taste of freedom not being underneath our parent’s roof — Which we all know is absolutely phenomenal. We could go on for days about the joys of living through college… You live in a house full of friends that is within walking distance of everything important. But the whole game changes when you decided to move on out after college and really begin life on your own. It is the first great leap into the unknown and the first reality check of this whole “real life” thing.
As someone who picked up and moved 900+ miles away from home ten days after graduating college, I can speak from experience. We all have different situations and deciding factors for moving, which can make the transition go over well. For instance, if you have a job opportunity in a brand new city that offers promise and potential you’ll be more than ecstatic to pack up the Uhal and start the newest chapter of life after college. This situation definitely offers more stability and allows the move to be a bit less stressful. And if you’re getting the chance to be in a new city you’ve never lived in before, a whole new world (props to Aladdin) is upon you to discover. But if you’re like me, and jumped at the chance to move to a city you love with no real concrete full-time job, just because your passion told you so, and you followed your heart, the journey is not as stable but still as fabulous!
As twenty something’s we’re pretty much expected to have this concrete five year plan post college. Graduate with our degrees, start working in the field of our studies, climb the ranks, and be successful making a name for ourselves. This all sounds so good on paper and is much easier said than done. I don’t think you need me telling you that in this day and age, and with our economy in it’s current state, this whole constructed plan expected of us is entirely more difficult to achieve. So how does this tie into making the first big move? Regardless of what your plan may be, or if you even have one, if you want an adventure to challenge yourself than make that move! Whether you have the full-time paying job of your dreams, or you’re nannying by day and slinging drinks at a restaurant by night, you’ve still made the first step to be out on your own. The “real world” has a broad definition. But within it, you grow and learn every single day which allows you to stand on your own two feet and be a responsible adult ready to take it all on.
Just because we graduated doesn’t mean we have to jump right into the 40+ work week immediately. Let’s be real, we have our whole lives to work, and if you’ve been given that opportunity to start now, mazel tov! You’ll be done sooner than the rest of us and we will be jealous then. But if not, hakuna matata! At least you took one step in getting out on your own and soaking up freedom, life, and everything that comes with it. Independence is key. It gives you room to breathe and most importantly find yourself. Our twenties are the most self-discovering, and not to mention selfish, time in our lives. Now is the time to branch out and expand. See the world and embrace it.
So if you’re pondering in that enriched brain of yours as to if you should move on out to a new exciting place, go for it! You have the strength and means right inside you, just take a step back and look deep within in and all the courage you need is right there. I promise you moving on out will only move you on up!
