Post grad life is, to be completely honest, disorienting. You’ve gone your whole life with structure, with a plan of exactly what to do next. Now, your calendar is empty. Completely empty for the next few decades of your life. For some people, this freedom is exhilarating, but for most it’s anxiety inducing to say the least. We’ve never been given this much freedom to choose in our life up until now. And now, you have to decide everything possible. Where will you live? How will you make money? What will make post grad life even a fraction as fun as college? To be clear, life will never be the same. But it’s up to you now to make life exciting, fun, and new.
The Three Typical Tracks:
Running, grad school, or traveling
Running
Most people pick one of three tracks to start their post grad life. A very popular one is taking up running. A few months after graduating, you’ll see at least 10 instagram posts of people you’ve forgotten about running a 5k or training for a longer race. This is a common path with “Run Clubs” being such a big trend lately. Especially if you’ve moved to a new city and are looking to meet new people, Run Clubs are an easy way to build community.
While running isn’t for everyone, it certainly isn’t for me, it’s great in the sense that you truly just need sneakers and a dream to go for a run. It’s not a big commitment gear wise, unless you want the most high tech sneakers, watch, or vest. I remember how shocked I was seeing this from both from high school and college. From multiple different states, people were taking up running. If you are looking for something to give you purpose after you graduate, maybe you need to sign up for a half marathon! Or be more introspective and pick something more true to you.
Grad School
Another typical decision when you don’t know what to do after college, is to continue in the most socially acceptable way. The amount of friends I had that applied to grad school because they weren’t sure what to do next, was absurd! If you don’t know what to do, well of course add more student loans to the mix and study something you aren’t sure you want to do for the rest of your life!
Of course, there are people in their post grad life who should be going to grad school. That smart kid in your class is starting their MBA or law school, or med school, in the fall and it makes you feel a little jealous that they have such a grip on everything. If you generally know what field you want to work in and don’t mind the financial strain, go to grad school! I would like to start a petition for people to stop going to grad school because they’re scared to figure out what’s next. The job market will be difficult regardless of applying with or without a graduate degree unfortunately!
Travel
The last path you see people go down, is the “how can they afford to travel that much” route. While I am biased, this was what my first year post grad was like. Most of my college experience was during COVID, so the timing wasn’t right for me to study abroad. Fortunately, I found something even better. More challenging for sure, but left me more prepared for the difficulties of post grad life.
I moved to Spain to teach English. It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. While my friends and acquaintances I followed online settled into how unsettling life became, I was hopping on planes every weekend. Is this similar to the people who went to grad school for the sake of going? I’m going to say no, but feel free to disagree with me. I applied to a program called NALCAP in Jan/Feb of my senior year (I’ll link a post I have explaining the program in more detail). I went through an annoying visa process from June to September and moved to Ibiza, Spain at the end of September. With NALCAP, I got a visa and a job teaching at an elementary school.
how it worked
My stipend paid for housing and some food, then the money I saved working all summer went straight to travel. I learned how to travel on a budget and went somewhere new at least two weekends out of every month. Personally, out of the three, I think this is the best option if you have the guts to do it. Of course, there are TONS of other programs and ways to do this, linked here, that I highly suggest you check out. I mean to me, travel sounds like the most interesting option. If you want to learn how to live in a new country, with a new culture and new language, you’ll build unparalleled problem solving skills that’ll help you for the rest of your life. If this sounds interesting to you, you should consider it as your post grad life track.
Goals and Hobbies:
Goals take a level of stubbornness and dedication to actually achieve. You have to dedicate time to them before you become obsessed. With my most recent hobby of pottery, I didn’t truly fall in love until the 3rd or 4th time I tried it. If you’re the type of person to buy everything for a hobby and then forget about it, consider doing a class or on a team/group. The most interesting and happy people normally have a few unique passions. Your post grad life might include living at home with your parents or moving to a new city. If so, check out this list to inspire you on how to spice up your life.
Other niche goals to make yourself more interesting and give your life more meaning:
Learning a new language then traveling to a country to speak it
A new language seems at first overwhelming, but doesn’t have to be. This can start with Duolingo at its easiest, finding a youtube playlist to work through, or even a class at a local community college. In conjunction with planning a trip to a country that speaks the target language, it can be an awesome driving force throughout your life.
Start a new hobby you’ve been dying to try
Entering post grad life, you’ll have much less free time than in college and be working more. Many people fall into the habit of just sitting on their phone scrolling or watching TV after work. This is normal for a short period of time as you adjust to your new schedule. If this is everyday for you for months, you need to rethink your free time. For me, there’s always a new hobby I’m dying to try, but I know that’s not how everyone is. Think back to what you loved to do as a kid or consult a mega list of hobby lists to find a new hobby to try.
Document your life on social media account
Oftentimes I see posts on Tik Tok that X months ago they started posting consistently online and now they’re getting invited on trips or getting free things. I posted every day for 2 months on Tik Tok and felt like I was going to go insane. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not! I think it can be very healing to document your life, and even more healing to see online that you aren’t alone. If you want to build a community, start a side hustle, or enjoy storytelling and video editing, maybe this is something you should try out.
Join a local team/league
The team you want to join can be in a few different categories. For instance, maybe you want a bit more exercise in your post grad life. You can join a softball team, tennis, golf, or basketball league. If you aren’t lacking in that department, perhaps a social league where you can get more involved in your community. There’s also volunteering, where you can find an organization to dedicate your time to that aligns with your values.
Save X amount by X age
I’ve seen a few people online challenge themselves to high financial goals. Often I’ve seen saving my first 100k by age 25. While that is not physically possible for me personally, I think there is so much to be gained by creating a challenging saving goal. My goal is that I’m trying to pay off my student loans in one year! After that, I’ll probably create an investing goal for myself. For most people, how much you know about finances is similar to what your parents know. That is, unless you go out of your way to teach yourself. Take the time to educate yourself with free online tools! I love Her First 100k, which is a bit more women focused, but can be utilized by anyone. You can create whatever goal fits your situation best, whether that’s building an emergency fund, investing X amount, or opening a Roth IRA.
Start your own company or side hustle
I think every young person should have some kind of side hustle. There’s something exciting about getting a small job that’ll give you some extra cash. Lately I’ve been doing lots of dog watching and sitting, which I’ve enjoyed. One day, I hope to make this blog my side hustle and make money from it! I have friends who mow lawns, babysit, or get lowkey part time jobs. Personally, I would love to work at the front desk of a workout studio and get free classes. Additionally, I know I’m meant to have my own business one day. I am currently developing my own app! I encourage everyone in their post grad life to look at how they could be a little grittier and grind a little more.
Go on a solo trip
If you aren’t going to move somewhere new, you need to try going on a trip alone. I think that doing things alone is essential to having confidence in your own life, which you can read all about here. This can be a day trip to a new town or planning the perfect day for just you to enjoy. If you’re ballsy like me, I don’t let not having anyone to go with stop me from anything. Neither should you! If you’re interested in doing your first solo trip, take a peak here! I go on vacations and to clubs alone because I know I’ll always have a good time as long as I’m there! Challenge yourself and pick some kind of solo activity to try.
SUPER Niche Goals
I think having your own bits, that entertain you and only you, are super important to enjoying life. Here are some niche goals. Some are mine, some I just think would be fun to do or tell others about.
Try out a new diet for a month. Carnivore? Vegetarian?
Lately on Tik Tok, it seems the newest food trend is the carnivore diet. Specifically where you make steak, eggs, and guac and eat them off the cutting board you may or may not have cleaned after putting the raw meat on it. While I couldn’t go strictly carnivore, I have recently been focusing on eating as much protein as possible. I stay full way longer than normal and it makes my body feel and look great. I think exploring new ways of doing and thinking keeps life interesting. Why not try a new diet for a month to see how you feel. Does your body like having more meats, or does it actually enjoy plant based protein more than you thought it would? Challenging yourself in some way with food can be fun or an experiment to never repeat! At least you can say you’ve done it.
Take pottery class to make your own set of dishes
This is one of the few that is my personal goal. While I’ve always enjoyed pottery, it wasn’t until a few wheel classes passed before I truly enjoyed it. Seeing the stunning things people create makes me excited to keep learning and creating. I saw a video of a girl online who made matching plates and bowls during her pottery class. It’s now a goal of mine to make my own dish sets before I move out of my parent’s house.
Buy a used instrument and learn how to play it
Something I’ve been wishing for lately is that I knew how to play an instrument. I took choir all through high school, but stopped playing an instrument in middle school. I think it’s so impressive when people can pick up a guitar or sit at a piano and play something without thinking. When I was younger, I got a guitar for my birthday, but never taught myself how to play it. I think if you’re someone who enjoys music, why not buy a used instrument and learn how to play it?
Start needlepointing or another craft
This is another online inspired goal; starting to needlepoint. Needlepoint is a type of embroidery with an open weave canvas. You can easily create things like keychains, ornaments, art to be framed, Christmas stockings, or really anything! I’ve loved seeing peoples creations, and I’ve been considering trying it out. I think it could be cool to create a bunch of ornaments for when I have my own Christmas tree. As you might see, there’s a theme of prepping for the future and my future apartment throughout some of these niche goals. The planning of aesthetic and look makes me super excited. Look at what makes you feel good about your life and find super niche goals that fulfill you!
Conclusion
Post grad life will not intrinsically be exciting unless you make it be! If you want life to be fun like college, you need to build a community, do things that challenge you, and do things that make you happy. While the freedom of adulthood can be scary, it’s a blessing to be able to choose exactly what your life could look like. If you’re overwhelmed thinking about all the different choices you have, check out this post about how to plan for life post grad. Find a way to make this post grad era more thrilling than stressful, and you will create a life even better than college!
