The difference between senior year of college and your first year out of college is staggering. For me it was almost more of a major leap than going from high school to college: When I moved into my dorm room, I was so ready for what was in store. When I moved out of my college apartment for the last time, I just felt sad and nostalgic. I knew nothing would ever be like my collegiate experience and since college was really great for me, I didn’t quite know how to weather that change.
There were definitely aspects of postgrad life that surprised me. Here are the five things I wish someone had told me about life after college.
1. A lot of people will move in with their parents
And that’s not a bad thing at all! I had tons of friends who made the move back home. Whether you’re doing it because it’ll help you save (tons of) money, because you’re not sure what your next move is, or simply because you want to spend more time with the family, moving in with your mom and dad is a completely viable option. Doing this doesn’t make you a loser and it won’t ruin your social life. Just be prepared for a lot of your friends to make this move postgrad – and if you’re the one friend in your group who has your own apartment, be prepared to host your friends overnight all the time.
2. Going out is completely different
Everyone gets over their party-loving phase at a different time. For me, when I hit 25 I instantly became a boring old lady. I had some friends who had no desire to go out at 23, others are still rocking out at 29. There’s no real norm, but the one thing you can basically count on is that going out does definitely change soon after you leave college. For one thing, people barely drink hard liquor (it’s all about ‘grabbing a beer’ or enjoying a glass of wine with dinner.) For another thing, people tend to not get as dressed up or stay out nearly as long as they used to in college.
3. Your social calendar is way less packed
Working more than 40 hours a week is exhausting. This means that it’s not at all uncommon to go weeks without seeing your friends – you’ll be too tired on most weeknights (even a lot of Friday nights) to do much of anything. You’ll also just see each other less because once you leave college, chances are you all live in different areas, even if you all stay in the same city. Unless you decide to room with a good friend, there’s a good chance you’ll find it really hard to carve out time to spend with your friends. It’s not at all like college, where you see all your besties all the time. This sounds sad but honestly? You start to really value your alone time. Sometimes hanging with Netflix sounds way more appealing than gossiping with friends.
4. People get ridiculously health concious
When I was in college, my friends and I scarfed cheeseburgers and pizza and cookies all the time. We never, ever exercised, but now I find myself surrounded by people who talk about healthy food and Crossfit all the time. I thought my college girls were just weird exceptions but now even they’re thinking about being healthier all the time. For one thing, almost everyone experiences the dreaded mid-twenties metabolism slump (shit is REAL, y’all.) For another, you actually start thinking about treating your body right as you start getting older. Exercise becomes important because if you don’t make time for it, you’ll literally never move beyond grabbing a cup of coffee while at work. Eating well is a priority because if you don’t, you get tired and feel like crap. And don’t even get me started on how you feel the day after a night out….
5. Everyone couples up
Sure, a lot of college students are in relationships as well. Once you hit the postgrad stage, though, it reaches a completely different level. It seems like just about everyone is in a relationship and all these relationships seem super serious – couples do everything together once you’re out of college. Your friends will also be thinking about moving in with their significant others and the engagements will start happening much sooner than you think. Let’s just put it this way: Socializing will start to feel like boarding Noah’s Ark because almost everyone will have be paired off for just about everything.
