Post-Grad: It’s Okay to Not Have ‘It’ Figured Out (And Why That’s Actually Exciting)
by RJ Edrolin
If you had told me a year ago that I’d be approaching graduation without ‘anything’ lined up — no job offer in hand, no grad school acceptance, no crystal clear next step — I would’ve gone into full panic mode. Post-grad life invites a whirlwind of emotions: excitement, yes, but also anxiety, comparison, and panic. After all, the traditional path we’ve been taught to follow our whole lives — K-12, then college — is now officially complete. From here, everyone branches off in drastically different directions. Some are already announcing new jobs on LinkedIn, others are heading to grad school, and some are taking well-deserved breaks. And then there are people like me, who don’t have ‘it’ exactly figured out yet.
Last Fall, my post-grad plan was all mapped out: take a short vacation after graduation, find a legal job, apply to law school in the Fall, and be off to law school by next year. It felt like a solid, linear plan — until January, when a personal, unexpected event completely shifted my perspective on life. I started having more honest conversations with myself about what I wanted my future to look like and what happiness truly looked like for me. It sounds a bit cliché, but sometimes I feel like we get so caught up in what we think we should be doing that we forget to ask ourselves what we actually want to do.
My newfound way of thinking didn’t happen overnight, though. I still pushed myself to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), even though deep down I was starting to question my path. But funnily enough, the second I stepped out of the examination room, I realized that I needed to rethink my future — and that law school might not be part of it anymore. So, when I confided in my parents that I might not be going to law school, their response was comforting and stuck with me: “It’s better that you realized this now, than to spend years heading down a path you knew you were going to regret.”
I’m not going to lie, it was a lot to take in at first. I’d been on the Pre-Law track since sophomore year, joined Pre-Law organizations, declared my law minor, and spent months studying for the LSAT. Graduation was approaching and I felt like I was a freshman again: back to questioning what I wanted to do. But here’s the part I didn’t expect: as the days until Commencement enter the low double digits, I’ve actually made peace with my lack of a concrete plan. More than that — I’m starting to see this uncertainty as something exciting. Because when you think about it, this is the first time in our lives where the path isn’t pre-written.
The anxiety I felt about "what's next?" is starting to feel less like fear and more like freedom. It means I have options. It means I get to shape my own definition of success from here on out — whether that’s trying different jobs, moving to a new city, or even taking time to figure things out without rushing.
So if you’re feeling that familiar post-grad panic, I get it — I really do. But I also want to say: this open-endedness isn’t a failure. It’s potential. And that’s pretty exciting when you let yourself see it that way.
