I graduated from St. Joe’s only a couple months ago in May 2025. Wait, OK, it’s actually almost been a year. Wow. Hold on. I need a second.

OK. I’m back.

In that year, I started working a job and acquiring a master’s degree. My choices have led me to this point, for better or worse, and for legal reasons, I will not be elaborating on which. For those of you finishing up school and staring down the rest of your life, here are some tips to keep your sanity post-St. Joe’s.

1. Find a hobby: Scrolling on my phone has kept me busy, along with the job thing, but there is always that desire to do more. I touched a piano once. I bought a journal. I even bought paint for artistic things. Eventually, I will try those hobbies. The first step to doing something is wanting to do something, and I am really good at the wanting part.

2. Find a support system: This year is the worst time to graduate, so there’s a good chance you or someone you know may suffer from chronic unemployment. Maybe you won’t find a job, but you can find a community. I don’t really love my job. I’m not insanely passionate about organization development and leadership. But I try to put love into my community: my friends. Them returning that love has made all the difference. Well, that and not living with my mom.

3. Find a reason: The hardest part of graduating was watching my world expand from a campus between Cardinal Avenue and 54th Street to, well, everything else. The question of “What do you want to do after you graduate?” quickly becomes “What are you doing right now?” You may feel purposeless … because you are, when measuring yourself against the full weight of everything in front of you. But wherever you are, you have a reason to be there. That’s good enough for now.

4. Find some water: Drinking water makes everything better. It also makes you pee more, but no one warns you about that part.