16 Tips for the Class of 2016

WORDS // JESSICA BILLS & KATEY LEE

1. You don’t have to know what you want to do. It’s okay to still be figuring things out.

2. If you think you know what you want to do, try it. And if you don’t like it, change it. Don’t let yourself believe you’re stuck.

3. You no longer have the built-in community of school, so you’re going to have to make your own. Church is a great place to do this.

4. Don’t feel obligated to hang on to your “college friends.” No one wins when you stay friends for nostalgia's sake or out of guilt.

5. Get a cat. (Seriously.)

6. Everybody is overworked and tired. Don’t let that ruin a good thing for you.

7. Watch for fear; it’s around every corner.

8. Now is the time to put into practice the discipline you never learned in college.

9. Stay in touch with professors/mentors. They want to know how you’re doing and you want to hear their insight on your life.

10. Treat yo’self. Don’t spend money on stupid things, but if/when you do treat yo’self, be strategic and invest in quality stuff that you can use and enjoy for years to come.

11. Don’t rely on social media to know how your friends are doing. Ask them, because social media is not reality.

12. Create habits that care for yourself holistically. Your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health are all so closely intertwined and so incredibly important that when you neglect one, you feel it in all other areas of your life.

13. Keep your student email address and ID card and use it to get discounts on stuff.

14. Do things your future self will thank you for, even if your present self doesn’t want to do them.

15. It’s okay to live at home. It’s okay not to have a job or to have a job that you don’t love. Not forever, of course, but this is THE transition time. Whatever life is right now is not how life will be for the rest of  your life. Think of this time as a launch pad for the next season of your life and use it to prepare and get your crap together.

16. THERE IS LIFE BEYOND THE POST-GRAD FUNK.
Or so we’ve heard. ;)

PHOTO // JESSICA BILLS