Congratulations to the class of 2024! You finally did it. Graduating is a major accomplishment, and you should be extremely proud of yourselves. Although graduating from college can be a very exciting experience, it can also be a scary one. Now that you’re done with school, the real world and its problems begin to set in. Navigating life after graduation can be extremely difficult, and that is the part that no one ever prepares you for.

As someone who is currently going through their second round of post-grad life, I’ve learned some lessons along the way that I think will help you navigate yours. So, think of me as your HBCU fairy god cousin, and let’s take this journey together. Here are my top three pieces of advice to help you navigate life after graduation.

Enjoy the moment

Sometimes, after graduating from college, our minds instantly go to what our next step should be. Should I go to grad school? What if I don’t get a job in my field? Did I choose the right major? These were some of the questions that crossed my mind, both times! I was so occupied with my next move that I never took a moment to enjoy the act of graduating. Since graduation came and went, I began to look at it as no big deal. Graduating is a huge accomplishment and should not be taken lightly. Whether it’s community college, undergrad, graduate school, or trade school, enjoy the fact that you have accomplished something major.

Celebrate yourself, have a party, take a trip, or do something that commemorates this occasion. You have the rest of your life to be an adult and step into the real world, so for this little bit of time, just enjoy the moment.

Give yourself grace

If I had to choose any of these tips for you to follow on this list, it would be this one. I can honestly say that this is something that I am currently struggling with, even though this isn’t my first time graduating from college. Our whole lives, we’ve been taught that if we go to college and get the degree, once we graduate, there will be a job lined up for us. Let me be the first to tell you that is completely and utterly WRONG. Especially in today’s climate, finding a job in your field, or any job for that matter, is extremely difficult.

Due to reasons beyond our control, it can be hard to follow the plan we set for ourselves after graduation. But through it all, I want you to give yourselves grace. It’s easy to question yourself and all your choices when life isn’t going the way you want it to. For some people, it may seem like everything is going just right for them, but try not to compare yourself to others.

Always remember that comparison is the thief of joy, and in the words of Nipsey Hussle, “It’s a marathon, not a race.” You are in a league all on your own; therefore, the only person you have to compete with is yourself. I know it can be hard because you think that you should be further along, or you seem like everyone else’s life around you is moving forward and yours isn’t, but be patient with yourself. As long as you don’t give up and are constantly working towards your goals, please make sure that you give yourself some grace.

It’s okay to change your mind

If you had told me this back in 2019, when I graduated from undergrad, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. For the longest time, I thought that since I spent all this time and money getting a degree in a specific field, I had to stick with that field for the rest of my life. But it wasn’t until a much-needed conversation with my mom that I realized that it was okay for me to change my mind.

I graduated from Virginia State University in 2019 with a degree in hospitality management. I planned to become a pastry chef and open a bakery. Shortly after graduating, I realized that, as much as I loved to bake, I didn’t want to make a career out of it. I began to think that I had wasted my time since that was no longer my dream. But making that decision and having that conversation with my mom helped me rediscover my initial dream of working in media after I swapped it out for something I believed to be more realistic.

There I was 23 and almost two years post-grad, applying to graduate school to obtain my master’s in media and communications. A field I knew nothing about. It was scary at first, but changing my mind is one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. I’m doing something that I enjoy, and I couldn’t be happier. If you come to that realization a month, six months, a year, or 10 years after graduation, know that it is okay to change your mind. Just because you start in one place doesn’t mean you have to stay there.

All in all

Life after graduation is like studying for a really hard test, but once you take the test, nothing that you studied is there. Graduating is such a fulfilling experience, but sometimes it can make you mourn the life you once knew. For four years, all you had to worry about was waking up on time for your 8 a.m., making it to the cafe before they closed on Fried Chicken Wednesday, or figuring out which homecoming events you and your friends were going to attend.

Life comes at you fast and hard after graduation. Just like you had to learn to navigate college, you’ll learn how to navigate life after college the same way. Whether you decide to go straight to work, attend graduate school, or take a gap year after graduating, just know that everything is going to work out. There is no cheat code to figuring out life. You just have to take things one step at a time.