Graduation marks the start of real life

Eliandro Ramirez Chang/ Contributing Writer

Campuses provide a sense of comfort and shielding through the ethics of an academic institution, which is lost once you leave these grounds.

Many of us ended up here because we bought into the idea if we didn’t go to college we wouldn’t be able to make it in this world. 

We might have ended up here because our parents conditioned us to go to college  after grade school. Society, self-improvement, dream jobs, any number of reasons could have led us to this point in our lives. Yet we are here, some of us are graduating and some of us still have time left. 

The question on all our minds though, is what comes next. Was it worth it? 

Not everyone has a smooth journey to graduation. 

There are a lot of falls and stumbles, both academically and in our personal lives, throughout our time studying at a university. 

Truly, not only do we grow academically but we also grow as individuals. By the time any one of us graduate, we will have become a very different person from that person we were when we started our journey to graduation. A lot of us are still figuring out what to do as a career, jumping from major to major. 

Some of us have a set major but are unsure of what to do after graduating from a university. 

Graduation seems like a bitter-sweet moment. You leave having achieved what you set out to achieve, a grand moment worth celebrating. 

And you also obtain the perks of attending a university. 

Leaving can be scary, the world tends to roll over people indiscriminately. We can all agree that we’ve, at least once, worried if that would be our fate. 

Going into the real world, making it on your own, is one of the harder things we will have to face. 

Though it doesn’t need to be scary, universities such as this one usually have tools to help you find work in your field after graduation. 

If you are a graduate, you should probably look into that. 

This is the time we have to make our mark on the world, graduation could be a propelling moment for us to do just that. Remember, in many ways, we are all going through growing pains during our time spent here. 

In many ways we are more prepared for the real world, simply due to the experiences we’ve had while attending school. Heartbreaks, disappointments, losses, failures, and missed opportunities. 

To the ones still here, this is the perfect time in our lives to experience these and much more, so when we go out and try to make it in this world things are put in a better perspective. 

We will be more prepared to deal with these and more when we finally graduate. 

Graduating is, of course, a good thing. 

Even if it is a little scary, the graduate should be proud.

It symbolizes a closing of a long chapter and the birth of a new and better chapter. 

A rebirth in a sense, a metamorphosis of the self. College is the cocoon, we are the caterpillars and graduation marks the moment when we break out and spread our wings. 

That is, only if you did it right. Graduates have already gone through a lot of trials already, and there will be no shortage of any number of both undesirable and desirable things that will happen after graduation. 

Regardless, this journey is one which I think will always be worth it.  

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Photo retrieved from FIU Flickr