What to do when you first graduate

YOU JUST GRADUATED COLLEGE.

Congrats! I know most people aren't thinking of graduates this time of year, because most people graduate in May. (Also, Christmas is important too, I guess ;) However, there are a lot of us who just graduated and I think we should take a minute to congratulate them! Yay! You did it!

Now. What do you do now that you just graduated college?

TAKE A COUPLE OF DAYS OFF

Or as many as your body / mind / spirit / (finances) can allow. For me, that wasn’t long. It was something like three or four days before I just got bored and restless and decided to start doing stuff again. But it’s super important to just rest, at least for a little while. Watch tv, read, doodle, become a disgusting vegetable. Just don’t do anything important.

Your body & mind need time to refresh. We've been pushing hard for 4 (or more!) years and things are about to get even crazier for us. So we've earned a bit of a break.

MAKE A LIST (or a few of them)

Spend a while journaling and making lists. What do you want to do now? What are your goals? What are your dreams? What things haven’t you done that you always said you wanted to finish before college? What are the things that you said you’d do after college?

Write all of that down & keep it somewhere you'll see it regularly.

MAKE A PLAN

For this, you’re taking your list(s) and making actionable plans. You want a new hobby? Sign up for a class, buy materials, find projects / inspiration. What are the steps you need to take to reach that end goal? Write them down, start doing them.

START JOB HUNTING

This is the scary one. You’re done with school and maybe, (if you’re like me), your job ended too. Create an “A” list of places you’d like to work, as well as a “B” list. Start applying. Even if they’re not advertising that they’re hiring. If it’s not looking like you’re going to get a job in your field right out of the gate, don’t panic!

You are not a failure and you still have time. If you need income now, start by getting a part time gig doing something fun. Do you like to craft? Apply to a craft store. Love action and being silly? Work at a daycare. It doesn’t have to be ground breaking, you just need a place to work until you find something a little more to your liking. But don’t get stuck. Just keep coming back to your lists & your plans and you’ll be fine!

And congratulations, seriously. You did it. From one winter-graduate to another, we got dis, babes. Now let’s go sleep and then kick some ass.

photo originally from this lovely gal