So in a week, I’m going to start my fourth year of college and honestly, I am feeling kind of anxious about starting this as I feel like my youth is going to end. I read someone say that a college senior isn’t really concerned about college life compared to like junior/sophomore/freshman and I feel like I’m not really a college student anymore. As well, I hear people say freshman and seniors are like in vastly different life stages, which also fuels my anxiety about getting older. Like, I’m worried that school life is already over and I should stop seeing myself as one already. I know this is disgruntled, but I just feel not ready to end the college experience yet.
All good things come to an end…but they can also be the start of other great things. A career, a family, self sufficiency, you name it. Think of the things you’ll be able to do with some cash in your pocket.
What are you studying? Are you looking forward to a career? This adult thing isn’t so bad!
Hi @kamenridermach, I’m sorry you’re feeling anxious. I’ve been out of college for a while now and I’ve always struggled with managing my anxiety. It isn’t fun. Your youth isn’t going to end when you leave college! As I said, I graduated a while ago and in many ways I feel the exact same. You will be pushed out into the “real world” when you graduate and there is no doubt that that transition can be challenging. However, you still have a year left which is alot of time. I’d try to focus on embracing it, getting the most out of it, taking advantage of all that your school and community have to offer. I think it is pretty normal to have this kind of nostalgic feeling (that can lead to anxiety) when you are headed into your last year of school so just know you aren’t alone in that!
What you are studying will indeed have a huge impact on what you do after you graduate.
It is normal to feel a bit discombobulated after you graduate from university. Graduation is a huge thing, and a huge accomplishment. Many students sort of try a bit of this and a bit of that after graduating. Then they find their niche and in many cases have a great career.
Personally I graduated with a degree in mathematics. This is potentially useful for a wide range of jobs, but it is not always obvious what someone does with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. I worked for a couple of years, and then returned to university for a master’s degree. I enjoyed my “college experience” in graduate school much more than as an undergrad. For one thing I was more mature and more sociable. Also, I worked harder. This meant that I stayed ahead in classes and did not fret about falling behind (because I didn’t fall behind).
As such, what you are feeling is perfectly normal. However, life definitely does not end after you get your bachelor’s degree. Life starts a new and exciting phase.
I loved college. I mean- really loved college. I had hated HS, but college was meaningfully different and better in every possible way even with the roommate up and downs, and academic up and downs, and all that.
Who could have predicted how much I would love being out of college and working? Again- the ups and downs of adulthood. The roommate dramas don’t end with graduation! The bad apartments in a bad neighborhood don’t end with graduation! Not knowing what you’ll be doing in two years doesn’t end with graduation! But I still loved being out of college.
OP- you will too. It may take a couple of stabs at a career before you figure it out, and you may need to live in a bunch of different places before you realize that you like warm weather (or love cold weather) or miss the seasons (or hate the seasons) or whatnot. But it will happen.
Just enjoy this last year!!! Throw yourself out of your comfort zone and make the most of it.
@blossom, @rickle1 @mustlovestudents, @DadTwoGirls, yeah, I get I will have to leave college eventually, but I am not sure if I’m ready to/should outgrow the college mentality seeing as I am still in it anyway compared to like freshman/sophomore/juniors
I hear you. Enjoy your senior year. Things will work out and worrying about it won’t change anything. Go with the flow.
Remember how your senior year of high school felt? End of everything you knew, big jumping off into the unknown, risk of not recreating the success you’d managed to that point, beginning of real life, all of the same sort of issues. It seems like you’ve enjoyed college to date, so enjoy the last quarter of the ride. It’s not over now, and believe me, @blossom is right that a bunch of it won’t be over just because you have a degree. Things changed three years ago when your parents weren’t around to see when you got home, and a year from now the teachers and admins at your college aren’t going to be there to ding your grades or suspend you if you cut class or break rules. But how much difference will that really make? How much misbehaving are you going to do?
You’ve made this transition before and you’ll handle it again. And if you can’t really face it there’s always grad school ?