Welcome to the Big Bad Real World
This new year has brought on a huge change for me — Graduation! As of December 20, 2012, I am no longer a college student. Welcome to the big bad real world.
To start with, graduating in December is nothing like graduating in May. The December graduation reception was held a week before finals, meaning everyone around me was celebrating my graduation before I had finished and before I was in the end of college spirit. Once finals were done and the grades submitted, the party was already over. There was no “Congratulations! You're done! Look for your diploma in the mail!” note from the university. There was no indication at all that the paperwork had all been submitted correctly and that I will be receiving my diploma in the next 1-3 months. There is no December ceremony to walk across a stage while all my friends and family can Oooo and Ahhh over my bright blue cap and gown — that has to wait until May. The whole thing is, quite frankly, anti-climactic.
The week after finals I went right back to work in my Summer Hire position with the Navy, but it is still a temporary position. Come Februrary 1st and I'm out of a job again. In addition to finding a job, I suddenly need to find a car, an independent cell phone plan, and (come late springtime) a new place to live! I thought graduation was supposed to be fun and exciting... this is more like a headache-y nightmare.
On the plus side, though, I never have to deal with homework and finals again! (Until I go back for my next degree... which I need my non-existant new job to pay for.) So far, I like not this thing people call the “real world.”
