As you wake up today, your newsfeeds will be flooded with posts about the last day of college — if those of us without Friday classes didn’t already post about it Thursday.
A week from now, the process will repeat. This time about finals.
A week after that, it’s graduation selfies.
From outside the senior bubble, all the sentimentality surrounding graduation may seem like frivolous nonsense. But as a freshman, sophomore and junior, I watched with envy as my senior friends prepared to graduate.
I would have traded anything to be in their shoes and get out into the world.
Now that my time has come, I’m stuck, wishing I could do it all over again, feeling anticipation for the future and unexpected downright terror.
I’m not sure what to do or where to go.
Graduation is one of the most disorienting and disillusioning times I’ve had the absolute pain of experiencing in my life. I’ve received mixed messages over the past few months.
I’m not sure what to think.
I’ve been told if I don’t find a job after graduation, I’m immediately at a disadvantage. I’ve been told to do something spontaneous, like move out of the country without any job prospects or much of a savings.
When planning for life after college, it’s difficult to know what is the right choice to make. I’m constantly reminded the decisions I make now could ruin my future.
When I was a kid, I was told the same line I’m sure most of you have heard countless times. My parents told me to find a job doing something I loved. The money wasn’t important. If you find your passion, they told me, then it isn’t really a job at all.
Now that I’m faced with impending graduation, that tune seems to have changed. “Do what you love” is now “Do what offers dental and a 401k.”
I’m graduating from college, and people are telling me to think about retirement.
Transitions in life are difficult, I’m told.
I’ve worked for The Daily Reveille for seven semesters. The opportunities here have led me to some of the best experiences of my life, including an internship in Washington D.C. covering Congress and winning an all-expense paid trip to Japan.
I’ve met some of my closest friends in the basement of Hodges Hall, where we’ve spent countless hours putting together the paper each day.
And during that whole time, I’ve tried just about everything The Reveille has had to offer, including writing, editing, designing and taking pictures.
But through it all, I never found anything that clicked.
I won’t wake up one day with an epiphany about my life’s calling, a professor once said.
It’s hard to envision giving up journalism, something I’ve spent four years of my life doing. At the same time, it’s even harder to imagine continuing on this path for the rest of my life.
The scariest part about graduation is we are forced to figure things out on our own.
There are a bunch of clichés I could put here about the future being now or life being what you make of it. But really, I don’t have the next part figured out yet, and I think that’s a good thing.
Kevin Thibodeaux is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Lafayette.