By Dihandra Williams

It’s that time of the year where college students begin preparing for the very moment they’ve been working towards since first embarking on their undergraduate journeys: graduation.

For some students this is arguably one of the best times of their lives. Their main focus is customizing their stoles and taking professional pictures in front of their academic buildings. But for others, this time has brought about an abundance of fears and anxieties that they couldn’t have possibly been prepared for.

And let’s not forget the haunting question that’s constantly being asked: “What’s next?”

It’s a difficult question for many, and the truth is, many students just don’t know. There’s the option of taking a gap year, going to graduate school to pursue a master’s degree or going straight into the workforce.

But of course, those are all so much easier said than done.

“Coming into college I was so optimistic about my post-grad plans and future in general and now that I’m here, I’m just scared,” said Sydney Reed, a graduating senior at Elon University.

Reed originally began her undergraduate career as a marketing management major with a minor in finance then later switched to speech communication and rhetoric during her sophomore year. Even though Reed is much happier with the career she is pursing now, she still has some doubts, and not having a secured plan after graduating isn’t helping much.

“Sometimes I wish I didn’t switch my major at all,” said Reed. “At least in marketing management, the possibility of me securing an internship or job would’ve been much more likely.”

But even the students who have a definite plan once they walk across that stage in the next coming weeks have their uncertainties.

On May 14, 2022, Samuel Nicholas will be graduating magna cum laude from Buffalo University in upstate New York. His post-grad job has been secured since the end of his junior year and his living expenses are almost 100% covered by the company he’ll be working for.

But like Reed, he too has fears of life after college.

“Yes, I have an amazing job secured, but there’s some things that I’m just not prepared for,” said Nicholas. “For the first time ever, I’ll be living alone. I won’t be able to just randomly call my friends to go get lunch and I won’t have that sense of security knowing that I’m safe within the gates of my campus. These things might seem minor to some people, but that’s how I’m feeling and it’s something college couldn’t prepare me for.”

As a graduating senior myself, I share similar emotions to both students. Like Reed, I didn’t truly discover my interests until my junior year of college and like Nicholas, the idea of being a “real adult” in the “real world” terrifies me.  

But through talking to family members and mentors, I’ve been able to accumulate some meaningful advice that I’m doing my best to live by as my undergraduate days come to an end.

Some of them are such clichés but important, nonetheless.

We’re young, we’re unsure and we still have so much further to go. It’s okay to not know every single detail of the rest of our lives.

For now, we should live in the moment and enjoy our last few weeks with our college friends, visit your favorite spot-on campus or find a new one, partake in all the senior events and soak in all the memories.

We have our whole lives to be adults and worry about the future, but we only have these last few weeks to be college students.

Let’s make the best of it. 

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Dihandra Williams is a senior at High Point University majoring in Journalism. For contact inquiries, please email dwillia2@highpoint.edu.