1. What am I going to do after I graduate?
Ever since I got to college, I’ve been asked this same question. Heck, even before college, it was always some variation of this question: what is your dream job? or what do you want to be when you grow up? And with every variation and each time I am asked, the same panic fills me. Should I go to law school? Grad school? Travel the world (with what money)? Yet another unpaid internship? Get a real job? The options are endless!!
My current plan is to get a job before going to law school, but that plan changes every other week. As much as I’d love to live out my Legally Blonde dreams, law school is intense, and I'll probably have to focus more on studying than on wearing cute pink outfits and delivering iconic one-liners. So, I will leave that question for future me and let present me focus on finding a job. I have so many interests—law, journalism, politics, cute pink outfits—but I’m not entirely sure what jobs fit this list. I have been on the job hunt since May…of 2022, and I have not had the best luck. So, if anyone out there is reading this and willing to give a passionate, hard-working, somewhat neurotic college kid a job, my last name is BOND and you can reach me at the Women’s Center anytime.
2. Where am I going to live?
I am an out-of-state student from sunny Southern California. It is a lovely place and after four years living somewhere else, I wonder why I ever left. But California is expensive. A gallon of gas costs $4.87, and the average rent for a one bedroom is $2,711 a month. I am just a young, broke college kid. I can’t afford that!! I could always move back in with my parents (I think). But the cost of living with my lovable, sweet, slightly overbearing parents might be even higher than the cost of living.
I could try somewhere new. D.C. has always seemed like a young, vibrant city worth exploring. Or there’s Seattle, Chicago, Boston—the list of wonderful cities I know very little about goes on and on. There are so many options and as exciting as that is, it is also terrifying. What if I move somewhere new and end up hating it? Or there are rats everywhere? Or there are no Chick-fil-as nearby? That’s too scary to even think about!
3. WTF is a 401K?
I know it has something to do with retirement, but beyond that, I have no clue. I am only 21 years old –is retirement something I should be thinking about? How do I start preparing for retirement? How do I even get a 401K? Just asking these questions, I feel like I’m in a Charles Schwab commercial: are you planning for retirement? Call this number and we can help!
I might as well give them a call because I can’t figure this s*** out on my own. While we’re listing things I have absolutely no understanding of, what is the stock market really? And how do I invest? And interest rates, do I have to worry about those? It seems like everything to do with finance is some sort of acronym—IRA, HSA, AGR, AGI—am I really supposed to know what those mean???
4. Does this make me an adult?
As the youngest of three girls, I am no stranger to the saying: “you’ll understand when you’re older.” Well I feel older, and I’d like to think I understand things a bit better now—but does that really make me an adult? I have mixed feelings about this question. On the one hand, I am and have always been the baby of my family and as such, I have always felt the need to prove my maturity. I donned big-girl clothes, wore big-girl makeup, and even learned big-girl words (sesquipedalian language if I may be so bold) to prove that I am in fact a grown-up without actually being grown up.
But now as adulthood stands right in front of me, glaring at me with glazed over eyes and the stench of coffee breath, I contest the assertion that I might already be within its grips. I don’t even know what a 401K is. How on earth can I be considered an adult?! But if I am now officially an adult can I still go out on Friday nights? Can I still call my mama crying after every minor inconvenience? Can I still sleep in till 11 on the weekends and binge-watch The Office for hours on end?
5. Will I ever get my questions answered?
I used to think that college would be this brilliant learning experience that would miraculously turn me from child to adult. I thought I’d go into college as a pile of play dough and come out a Michaelangelo sculpture. As amazing as I am, I am no Michaelangelo sculpture. So now my resting theory/last hope is that college does not in fact teach you everything, and the old adage is true: experience is the best teacher. I’d like to think, and pray, that all of my questions will be answered with time; and one day, if I play my cards right, I may not only know what a 401K is, but I might even have one.
Adulthood is terrifying and the real world sounds awful, but college was once scary too. I came to UVA a timid, shy out of state student almost four years ago. And I am leaving–still scared–but smarter, braver and stronger than ever before. I don't know that I'll ever be ready for adulthood or the working world but I know that whether I like it or not, in eight short months I will be a college grad living in the real world. You better believe I’m going to make the best of it.
