Graduation season is upon us. Over the next couple of weeks many young adults will be closing one chapter of their lives to begin the next. Former high school seniors will spend the summer months fantasizing about what life will be like on the campuses of universities around the country. By mid-July they’ll begin the task of gathering their supplies for freshman year and preparing goodbyes for friendships that won’t last past that first semester. 

The thing about incoming freshman is that they’re so full of shiny-eyed hope. Their futures are bright. They have the next four years to figure out who they are and who they want to become as they venture out of adolescence and step into adulthood. It’s honestly a time to be cherished because it passes by in a blink of an eye. 

Freshmen, have fun with it. This time is rife with opportunities to grow and develop into people worth being. Because real talk, the world is full up on Garbage People™ at the moment. There’s no more room for hate, bigotry and xenophobia. We don’t need it. Your parents and grandparents haven’t quite yet exhausted it but have exhausted me with it. I want you to be the change the world needs. You can truly be the start of a new tomorrow. 

On the opposite end of graduation season are outgoing seniors. They’ve done their time. They’ve dealt with the hellscape known as the financial aid office and to be frank, they’re ready to get the fuck up outta there. They’re ready to go out into the world and put the lessons learned from $500 textbooks to use. They’ve figured out a lot about themselves over the last four years and now it’s time to pray that that time has equipped them enough for the “real world.”

For my seniors, The “real world” takes no prisoners. It’s hard. You’ll be put in the position to make tough decisions and hope they’re right (or right-ish. The world isn’t perfect). I’m not here to say that life is like a Jigsaw trap from the Saw movie franchise. It’s not going to toss you into a ditch of syringes because of some convoluted plot that didn’t quite work in the long run. 

I’m just saying it gets real out here. Really real. But the cool part about it– the cool part about life–is that you can make mistakes. You can fail spectacularly and get up and try again. You can use that $500 textbook knowledge and approach the problem from a different angle hopefully with better results. Don’t give up. Keep pushing and moving forward. You too, are they start of a new tomorrow. Don’t forget it. 

I started writing this with the intent of providing tips on how to survive as a New Adult in a world where there’s literally a level 8 crisis happening every other minute but my rambling somehow ended up here. I still think those posts will have value so keep an eye out for them in the future. For now, I think I’m satisfied with saying it’ll be all right, kiddo.