Tag Archives: student problems

How College did Prepare Me for Life

  1. Being social

That constant crave to be popular on Instagram, Twitter (back in the day), Facebook, Tumblr, whatever and be social also actually did prove to be helpful. The job market is very much a Who-You-Know type place. Trying to be social online sometimes equated to being social in person because how awkward is it to like all of someone’s photos on social media and not feel like friends in person? Plus, you never know when you may need to hunt someone down after not seeing them for 10 years and beg (I mean ask persistently) for a job. So, suck up now and like all those relentless posts of them with “bae,” those downward shots of the Starbucks coffee, and their bare legs at the poolside. You may need them later for a recommendation.

  1. Surviving off of caffeine and limited sleep

Who knew that life after undergrad would be just as tiring and busy as it was those four years? I remember hearing someone say they were told that life is only going to get more hectic from here on out, and I also remember not believing that person. I take it back. Not only are you either working or being a graduate student full time, but you are also juggling life changes, moving, career choices, relationships, money, and adult-like responsibilities. It’s just exhausting. What’s worse is that you can’t even afford Starbucks like you did in undergrad when you were still on your parents’ bill. Now Dunkin Donuts small coffees look better, or maybe even venture to the gas station if it’s a really rough month. At least all those late nights in undergrad were really just training for the big test. Although, those late nights were due to major procrastination, parties, or doing anything considered pointless yet fun. The late nights now are due to the lack of time in the day to get all your chores done and attempt to piece together your life.

  1. Fake it to make it

Don’t lie to yourself. You know you have all had an essay exam or a term paper that you just pulled stuff out of a certain body region and through it into the paper. Miraculously, you managed to get an above average grade, too. If this has happened, you have officially been deemed a faker (to-make-it). This little tactic will help you go in your post-grad life. You have to fake it to make it in interviews, on your resume, at internships where you have no idea what you’re supposed to do, and acting like your life is pieced together. When you run into old classmates and friends from college, you need to act like you have your stuff together; you can’t let anyone really know how panicky you are. I mean, I act like I have mapped out my whole life. Joke is on you, who believe me.

  1. How to properly be cheap

Raise your hand if you’re rolling in the dough. Smack whoever put their hand up! No one our age should be rolling in the dough. Or else you are doing life wrong. And cheating. It’s not fair. So stop. But for the rest of us normal-folk, we are a little cheap when it comes to spending. We know where the ramen noodle aisle is, we know how long our gas light can be on before the car just stops, we have Amazon prime to save on shipping, and we know where to eat based off what coupons we managed to snag from a school coupon booklet. It’s actually gotten to the point where we are so good at it that we should put it under the ‘skills’ section of our resume.

  1. How useless things really are

Not only are a majority of the classes we took in undergrad useless, we did not learn things we actually need to know in life. For example, what is a 401K? Or how does one take care of a home? Or what tax exemptions can we use? Or what budgeting our money properly? Instead we took easy gen-ed courses to keep a high GPA and not have to work very hard. Looking back, all those hours studying at the library and cramming in an essay before the deadline seem very useless now. Why did I care so much about Calculus or Statistics when Excel can just do all the work for me? Why did I write thousands of words on a piece of artwork just for a humanities? Internships, jobs, and graduate school give you more information on how to survive a career and life. Working and getting real life experience are so much more valuable and useful. At least it was a four-year long party in undergrad! Now to start from scratch….

blog photo1

Lastly, I learned this. And by Vitamin C, I mean drinking some orange juice and saying a quick prayer before running across the street.



Leave a comment

Filed under College, College Life, Graduates, Post Grad Life, Post-Grad, Student, Students