What They Don't Tell You About Your Life After College...

As a kid, did you ever just wished to be a grown up already? Well, be careful what you wish for.

In middle school, all I ever wanted was to be in high school; in high school, all I ever wanted to be was in college; in college, all I ever wanted to be was out of school. Boy, was I wrong... I just graduated college this past April, and all I can think about is how I wish I could go back to my freshman year of college when all I was worried about was making friends. College was the best five years in my life, and I would live it all over again if I could. After I graduated, I moved back home to Hawaii with my parents and financially, that was the smartest decision, however, mentally, not the best decision. After college, most people find a full-time job, live on their own, and everything falls into place. In my case, that was not it. My initial plan was never to come back home, but for personal reasons, that was the best decision to make. My original plan was to stay in Portland, live in an apartment with my best friend, and take the full-time job that was offered to me. Currently, I am in graduate school, have one part-time job that I am still trying to figure out and another fee-for-service job that is a work in progress. I barely have any friends to hang out with because they are all in Portland, living it up, while I am in Hawaii always cooped up in my home.

Life after college for most people can be the best time, however, for others, it could be a time of challenges, figuring out who you are as a person, what you want in life, and figuring out how to start doing things on your own. What they don't tell you about life after college is that it could be the most challenging part of life because you are finding your foundation as an adult. You need to start managing your own finances, you need to start relying on yourself and not your parents, you need to start finding your own health insurance, and lastly, you will start taking care of yourself.

This post is not to scare anyone about what life after college is like, but to allow people to be aware and to be prepared for what life may offer for them. Again, for most people, they will land that full-time job, they will find their own place, they will live the most exciting parts of their life. But if you are like me, it is okay to feel lost, confused, and helpless, but everything will turn up soon enough. Mainly, it did not help that all my friends from college moved back to their home towns and that is no where near where I live. But just remember to cherish your college moments, and 'adulting' can be all fun and games, but don't forget about the things people don't normally discuss. For the most part, the hardest part for me is being 100-2000+ miles away from my best friends.

Another part is that moving away for school, I have gotten so used to being on my own, living with friends, and spending every waking moment with my roommates. Moving home, I have gone back to living under the same roof with my parents, following their rules. It's not that bad, but I do miss walking out of my room, seeing one of my roommates watching TV on the couch and being able to sit with him/her and talk for hours about random subjects. That is no longer the case. Now, I wake up and everyone in the house has gone out for work or school and I have no one else to talk to. I miss being able to make random plans the day of and being able to do random stuff without worrying my parents of how long I will be out. I miss going out to the bars and to the clubs, because my friends at home, are not down for that and if they are, it is just a different vibe when I go out with them. Life after college is the biggest transition I had to make, from spending time with friends 24/7, to spending time with no one.

Just always,

Live. Laugh. Aloha.