Keep your head up and your eyes alert. Just because you have a job now doesn’t mean it’s forever and just because you don’t have a job yet doesn’t mean you’re not a valuable asset. The most successful people are those that constantly have their eyes out for the next big thing - whether it be a promotion, a creation, a platform, etc. You can keep your feet flat on the ground but 22 is too young to plateau; don’t forget that when you look up and lift your aspirations, you increase your potential for greatness. Never say never. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Just because you wouldn’t have done something a year ago doesn’t mean you can’t do it now and if you don’t see yourself doing something in 5 years, then you should definitely do it now. Much like college, post-grad life is about saying YES to as much as you can as often as you can (within your means, of course). Say YES to strolling through the fresh market on a Saturday morning, say YES to an impulsive trip to Nashville with your girlfriends, say YES to a Yankees game even though you’re a diehard Red Sox fan, say YES to helping your parents move (it’s the least you could do, really). It’s true that your weekdays may not be as open as they were in college, but your time on the weekends is no longer consumed with homework so take advantage of it and allow yourself to take time to do the things you’ve always wanted to do when you were “all grown up.” No more pushing off until tomorrow, or next month, or next year. Do it now. Prepare to feel unprepared. College was a nice little bubble, different than high school, but it was still very easy to isolate yourself from the outside world if you so chose. The post-grad world is not so negotiable. You have less access to resources put in place specifically to help you, and more “what the heck am I supposed to be doing” kind of days. Less planned-out activities and meals, and more spur of the moment adventures. Fewer opportunities to make new friends who are all at the exact same stage of life as you, and more of an effort needed to bridge the gap between co-worker and outside-of-work “let’s meet up for drinks” kind of friend. While you can (and should) try to prepare for this next chapter as much as you can, there’s simply going to be things that fall through the cracks. You will get lost, both physically and mentally, but you will find yourself, and that’s the greatest unexpected reward of all. Dream jobs don’t grow on trees, and hard work cannot be bought or bargained for. The best thing you can do for yourself now is to reap the rewards of all the hard, long hours you put in over the course of your 18-year school career. While your occupation is no longer “student,” part of you will always play that role, so take what you learned - the research skills, idea development, problem-solving and brainstorming - and use them to fulfill your goals and climb the ladder in your own way. Think outside the box, don’t be afraid to reach out to past mentors, and utilize your drive to further your dreams in a way that those who sneak their way in because they “know a guy” never could. If you want something, work for it, don’t just expect it to fall into your hands. Good things come to those who wait, but better things come to those who work. “The comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there.” (It wouldn’t be a proper sign-off post before graduation if I didn’t include one of my all-time favorite quotes about life and its unpredictability!) You’ve probably heard it about a million times but now is the time to take risks. There’s simply no other way to say it. You’re young, you’re eager, and your bank account will never be this low maintenance again. Graduating college means that you’re set free from your old obligations, and while new ones may pop up (talking ‘bout you @collegeloanpayments), you have to consider the bigger picture too. The average college student graduates without a spouse, without a mortgage, and without kids to watch and provide for. That means you’re already ten loads lighter than your 30-year-old counterparts, so don’t let this time of freedom go to waste! Not to mention you’ve likely sat in at least four different classrooms with posters plastered on the wall staring back at you, exclaiming, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars,” or “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” but now; this is when all those far-fetched quotes really mean something. This is the time in your life when all those elementary classroom posters become less of a corny quote, and more of an applicable life mantra. To put it in perspective - at some point in life, you’re going to fail. You just are. That doesn’t mean you won’t rise up from it, stronger than ever; it just means you’re human and you make mistakes. And while we cannot plan out our successes and failures like a road map leading us to our final destination, we can set ourselves up for journeys that involve a lot of risk-taking and leaps of faith, in the hope that we succeed, but with the knowledge that failure wouldn’t be the end of us. After all, the only way to get to the top is to start at the bottom. If you hold yourself back from doing anything, you’ll miss out on everything. Comfort zones are nice and friendly, but they’re not meant to house us forever. Otherwise, how would we have gotten to where we are now? And last of all -- GOOD LUCK!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorInformation on the latest professional development trends and advice, plugs for Marist College Center for Career Services events and initiatives, and stories from your Marist peers. Content is produced by Marist students for Marist students. Categories |