Life after the Diploma

It seems like the chapter between college and "the real world"

isnt exactly subtle.

It is almost like a leap or jump to the next page that begins a whole new life.

Are we ready?

Are we prepared?

What should we expect?

I just graduated this past weekend with a Bachelors of Science in Education.

I walked across the stage.

I walked down the hill.

I celebrated.
Took shots.
Now what?

LIFE.

For me, it's a little different.

My program makes us jump right into our Masters.

So I will be student teaching, taking grad classes, and doing an internship.

The jump for me isn't as drastic.

However, many of my friends are applying for jobs left and right.

Searching every few hours for another job to pop up on their screen.

Calling aquaintances that MIGHT just know something open or know somebody.

Even doing paidless internships to "get a foot in the door".
Many are very unrelated to their degrees.

I think to myself "what did college actually teach me about the next chapter I'm about to go through?"
It taught me what I needed to survive.
Motivation.
Drive.
Hard work.
Social Networking.
What simply matters, and what does not.


We take so many different paths throughout our lives,
that I think it is impossible for college to prepare us for them all.
Did I learn some great things about my major that will help me succeed?
Yes.
Did I learn everything I need to know to teach each and every student with all the different circumstances that will arise in my teaching career?
No.

We are the ones that will live, learn, fail, and succeed through our experiences.
No college can prepare us for that.
However, it does prepare us for this next phase by giving us knowledge, confidence, and many other characteristics that will help us be successful in whatever we chose to do and be.
Without college, there is no way I would be ready for this next step in my life.
No way I would know my potential and capabilities.

I think we are ready for the real world...ready to live and learn.
Ready to conquer the world and make it a much better place than it was when we got here.
So to me, college prepares us for the "real life"in so many more ways than I ever imagined.
It prepared us for the real life.
Through the good times, and the bad.