Post Grad Depression:

Embarking on a life unknown is a common fear amongst college graduates. Your next move is dark and obscure. The uncertainty starts to kick in as soon as the congratulations and celebrations die down. Your journey is your legacy, and will you leave it memorable and remarkable or fade away as just another number?
Post-Grad depression stems from years of being systematically prone to being rushed through each phase of life. You aboard the train in grade-school and it pushes you to be good enough for middle school, which pushes you to prepare for high school and that drowns college down your throat. As soon as you are here, it’s straight to internships, jobs, management skills, and how are you going to change the future essays.  Now you’ve slaved to get to your destination and you’re at a screeching halt.
 How does the quote go?  “Work your whole life so that you can get to the point to where you can work you whole life…” The 8am classes, the responsibility, the predetermined structure all to receive that piece of paper that certifies you in your respective field.
The disturbing fact is that that is not enough. The fact that you stayed up late nights for that A in comm. law or your nursing classes doesn’t matter. Those late nights in Pinchback, who cares. Practicing piano for your proficiency until your fingers develop stage 1 arthritis, oh well. You come to this unsettling thought after jobs routinely “pass up” your resume. As time and time again, the employer repeats the words “we aren’t really hiring this quarter, but we’ll keep your application on file.” In a recent report from the Pew Research Center 44% of grads are working in a field that doesn’t require a college degree. Bachelor of Arts in computer science but working as a night time security guard.
Now a plan must be developed to obtain a reasonable income. Six-months until repayment on your loans, three months until your parents are tired of seeing you at home (or you are tired of being there). Those refund checks, gone. Friends that you could laugh about being broke with, are now distant. Those café meals we love to hate, no more. Now you’re hungry, mentally and literally. You’re hungry for a break in life, “there’s no way I did all this for nothing” you start to think. You wonder if you’re good enough and why it was so simple to create those vision boards but to put it into fruition seems futile.
However, keep your head up grad! You’ve weathered the storm. You are a graduate of THE Southern University Agricultural and Mechanical College. Where “fighting the system” is a weekly pass-time. Scratching and crawling to get ahead is common amongst peers who want the same goals. You are going to face heart ache and pain, but the end goal is so much sweeter. Engrave your name in the world and give them proof you were here Kings and Queens. Post-grad depression is a sadden truth but a healable one. Focus on your goals. Remember how you got here.