The Post-Grad Working World Slump

So, apparently, I am an adult now.  And that just seems like a joke to me since mentally, I am still 13 most of the time.  But alas, I am afraid that most signs point to me being like, kinda grown up.

Here’s how I came to this conclusion:

• I have a Bachelor’s degree
• Daddy don’t fund me no more
• I pay for all my shit (rent, food, gas, car, alcohol…etc)
• I have a full time, 9-5 job
• I have started saying things like “back in college”

These new super adult attributes of mine still shock me sometimes.  Although I have only been out of college for 9 months, in some ways I feel like I have been working FOR-EV-ER!  Time sure does fly when you live your life on a monotonous schedule.  When you are working, you don’t have the school structure of 10-week quarters or 13-week semesters to break life up into various sections or to add variety.  Work days and weeks just end up blending together into a blur of meetings, phone calls, Facebook checks, IMs with coworkers, and endless emails from people asking for things.  To put it simply, the working world is a bit different than life in your college bubble, and can be a challenge to adjust to.

Recently, I have come to the conclusion that I have been a victim of the Post-Grad Working World Slump.  It all began when I entered the full time working world just one week after my graduation in June 2012 (sooo long ago, right?).  I wasn’t really given time to fully process all of the changes in my life because it all happened so quickly.  Within a short month, I went from living the college life with all of my best friends to working 40 hours a week, living with horrendous sub-leasers, and being left behind in my college town.  I found myself not knowing how to handle these changes or how to make things better.  So I ended up falling into a steady routine of going to work, getting myself through the day, going to the gym, and then going home to hang out with my new BFFs, Macbook Pro and Netflix.  I ended up getting pretty used to this new regular schedule and honestly, was thinking that it was not so bad for a while.

But, it wasn’t until I moved in with a few friends that I truly understood how unhappy and antisocial I had been throughout the summer.  I had let being separated from some of my core friends make me shut off other people who were still there and wanting to hang out.  But that had to change!  I had a new apartment and new roommates, so I decided that it was also time for a new outlook on my post college life.  I embraced the perks that came with not being in school and how I don’t have to “feel bad” about not doing my class readings anymore.  So I booked a trip to the East Coast to visit friends, started contacting other people still in town, and befriended my 30-something married, yet also super fun and cool, coworkers.  I realized that I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and mourning the college life I had lost in order to enjoy the new life that is now my reality.

Just because post grad life is very different from college life, doesn’t mean it’s bad.  Yes, it may take some time to accept that your days of getting wasted on a Wednesday (on a regular basis at least) are over, but now you have work happy hours that can unexpectedly get a little crazy.  Trust me, there are many fun and surprising things that you will end up loving about being out of school and having a job($$$).

But ultimately, I just want you to know that having a Post-Grad Working World Slump is a normal thing and nothing to worry about.  I was in one and still continue to work towards accepting everything about my new life.  It’s a process, so don’t get down on yourself if you can’t adapt perfectly right away.  I have faith that we will all figure things out eventually.

And if not, well then we have a good reason to get drunk!