A Letter to Seniors Preparing for the Real World

A+Letter+to+Seniors+Preparing+for+the+Real+World

The time is almost upon us…GRADUATION! Finally, the time we’ve all been anticipating since we began our journey four short years ago, and are counting down the days until. When May eighteenth arrives, our senior class will move onto life’s next big adventures, but of course with some hesitation. Becoming an adult means things like paying bills, managing money, living on our own, knowing how to cook for yourself (all the time!), and maintaining a life without our college friends by our sides everyday, and this might be hard for some of us to grasp right after graduation.

When we first come to college, we of course all have to learn to be self sufficient if we were not accustomed to that lifestyle already . This meant things like doing our own laundry, cooking our own meals when we didn’t like what was at the dining hall, or even learning how to ball on a budget. But, the real world is a whole lot different, as many of us are often warned. For starters, paying bills and managing money is the biggest and most important part of adulthood. For most of us, getting a first full-time paycheck will be exhilarating, and we’ll probably already have it spent before the direct deposit hits! Even though bills will be the last thing on our minds,  learning how to manage your money, credit scores and loan payments are all crucial to setting yourself up for a successful future. Managing your finances in accordance with your paycheck can help with this significantly, like writing out your monthly expenses such as rent, food, gas and phone bill. This can allow you to get a head start on your bills, and take the adult world on full force.

For most of us, living on our own without our parents there to help us with basically everything is scary to think about, but it can also be exciting. Coming to college four years ago, we never truly “lived alone”, because you’ve usually been surrounded by friends and/or roommates. After graduation, many of us will tackle truly living alone for the first time and basically begin a new life. Living without our family under the same roof can seem a little scary at first, as some of us might not know how to cook or live without others. By cooking meals at home, you not only can save a ridiculous amount of money, but give yourself that ‘at-home’ feeling again if you find yourself missing it. Also, if you are too consumed in your new adult lifestyle to cook everyday, meal prepping can help keep that stress away!

So guys… with time dwindling down to graduation, it’s definitely time to start thinking of all the aspects that come with adulting if you haven’t already. These things are necessary in order to help make the transition into adulthood easier. From finances and managing your monthly expenses, to food prepping so you don’t have to worry about cooking or spending money on eating out every night, these basic skills can help lessen the stress of going off into the real world of for the first time. So, my fellow seniors, hopefully these tips and tricks can help save you some stress after graduation; when our dreams start to become reality.

 

photo belongs to rheareview.com