Grad advice

7 thoughts for the class of 2024

Photo by Joshua Hoehne

It’s May again, and that means in a few short weeks, another class of graduates will spill off the university assembly line. This class is unique in that they started their studies isolated on Zoom, but they’re ending their time the same way we all do.

Some already know where they’ll be continuing their education or when they’ll be starting their first full-time job. But if you’re anything like I was at that age, you’re a little unsure about what’s next, and that’s ok.

If I was graduating this month, here’s what I’d want to know:

1. You’ve got time. Yes, youth is wasted on the young, but much is forgiven on account of youth as well. You don’t have to take the first opportunity you’re given. Get out there, make mistakes, miss some trains, and know that time is on your side.

2. Get out of your hometown, get out of your college town, get away from what you’ve grown accustomed to. You did it once when you went to college. Do it again and embrace how much you’ve already grown.

3. Travel lightly. Life gets heavier as you go along. When you move out of your dorm or apartment after graduation, think about how much stuff you’ve accumulated over the year. That same phenomenon happens in life, but you can’t throw out baggage and responsibilities the same way you can a couch that was rescued off the street in the first place. 

4. Keep your eyes on your own paper. Even if it’s in a field you have no interest in, you might be envious of a friend who already “has it all figured out.” That’s part of their journey and has nothing to do with yours. Keep running the mile you’re in, and try to enjoy this liminal space where so many directions are still possible.

5. You know someone who knows someone who can help you get your foot in the door. You just have to find them. Start knocking on doors.

6. It’s as much about the people as the job. We all have shitty first jobs. A lot of us have shitty fifth jobs. But there are people I still talk to from way back who helped me get through those days and are still willing to lend a hand now.

7. Living is a lifelong process. It may feel like the end of a really important time and the beginning of another, but it’s all connected and it all keeps going. It’s not about finding your dream job. It’s not even about finding your next job. It’s about finding yourself. Because you’ll keep trading up and making changes and experiencing setbacks, but through it all, you have to be ok doing it with, and as, you.