Are you a college student ranging from ages 20-23 suffering from severe lack of motivation, excessive sweatpants and sweatshirt use, repeated absences, and anxiety?
Well, you may be experiencing senioritis, a phenomenon common in young adults about to enter the so-called "real world" in May. Many researchers, professors, employers and parents have tried to search for alternative ways to combat this infection happening all over the country, but the only cure is graduation.
Although many look for answers on how to stop the infection from increasing as temperatures get warmer and days last longer, not many have looked into the causes of the epidemic -- where does it originate?
As a student in her final months of higher education, I think I may have a few ideas.
THIS IS THE END:
This is it. The fun is over. Never will you be in a place where all your best friends are within less than a mile from you. Never will you be a in a place that is a community within a community. These are the things that make our parents and recent grad friends say, "I wish I could have stayed in college forever."
While growing up is something we all eventually have to do, or at least attempt to do, this has been the time in our lives to find ourselves and absorb all we need to know before we exit campus. Think about it, never will you be in a place that cooks food for you everyday. Well, maybe that will continue if you move back in with you parents because you can't find a job.
JOB PRESSURE:
For the last four years at every family gathering, Uncle Joe and Aunt Sue (who always forget your birthday) are recently so interested in what you're going to do after college. What's your major? Do you have a job yet? What's an average salary for someone just starting out?
It's the burning question everyone wants to know and every graduate is sick of. Some of us have it all planned out while the rest of us are still staring at a computer screen looking at resume templates. Instead of congratulating you and all of your accomplishments, people just want more, more, MORE!
Not only do they want you to have a job figured out but have the RIGHT job. Which creates a lot of stress and anxiety causing us to just lie in bed all day and watch every season of Breaking Bad.
"You know it doesn't look that tough... Maybe I'll just sell crack for a little to pay off Sallie Mae..."
THE UNKNOWN:
Life after college is as mysterious as a black hole to most of us. Where will I live? If you're in a relationship, are you going to move in with that person? Move across the country with them? Marry them? What's credit? Do I have it? How do I know? Mom? Dad? HOW DO I ADULT?!
Even now we still ask our parents for advice and they still ask theirs. Life takes 100 years to figure out and yet we are expected to have it all figured out within a few months. Some people take time off after graduating, traveling, exploring and doing the things they will never get to do again. But that's just a cop-out -- they are stalling. Although they may seem so cultured from globetrotting they were scared and stressed and had no idea what they wanted to do.
The idea of leaving this bubble of comfort is what causes us to bunker in our dorms or apartments, skip class and procrastinate because we want to keep living this experience for as long as we possible can before it ends.
WARNING:
These pressures may be causing you to freak out as you pass in that final thesis paper or present your capstone project but try to remember that you made it. You did it.
As scary as all those impending expectations of adulthood are -- be proud of yourself because you're moving on to bigger and better things! Although it may seem like these were the best days, there's still about 30,000 more to compare them too.