Dear Graduate: School Ends, but Life’s Lessons Are Just Beginning

The last bell rings as the halls goes silent. You walk majestically out of the school with your certificate in one of your hands, filled with joy as happiness blooms in your heart and the next stages ahead of you... Uncertain, bright, clueless, terrifying. It is a glorious moment. But the truth is that, life after school is far different from what you have imagined in your head. You are free, definitely yes but sometimes filed with uncertainty.

So, to answer this week prompt request, here are my top six things I wish I knew earlier:

1. The school certificate does not justify my identity.

Like some of us already know, the certificate we have is not our destiny it is just a proof of our efforts back in school. So we should not allow it to tie us down in one direction. You studied nursing in school but you are very good with catering work, become the best chef people will ever know. You studied mathematics but your pen bleeds, explore it and become the best writer out there. The modern world is no longer after perfection but it now rewards authenticity more.

2. Never forget, nobody owes you anything.

There is absolutely nothing you can do to that and that’s not a bad thing because you will send out your resume and CV to multiple people, some will acknowledge it and do nothing about it. Some will not even open it. Some might call you but later turn you down. All these are nothing personal because it is the real world. You have to toughen up yourself, be resilience. Do no give up and keep trying. Because at the end of the day it all boils down to how smart, harder and louder we keep knocking.

3. Learn soft skills.

In the real world, you need to know these things that knowing how to communicate, manage time and using emotional intelligence open doors faster than GPAs as simple as they may sound. People are now hired based on trust and not only what your GPAs says.

4. Money shows up slowly, confusion comes very fast.

The honest truth no one will tell you is that, you may all be left alone in your twenties trying to figure it all out. The choices you make might be filled with doubts. Those who you graduated together may be doing very well while it seems that you are just on a point like barber's chair. Take a deep breath. Keep going and do not give up because we all have different clock which ticks differently and your time will come.

5. Keep improving and learning but this time around, it is on your own terms.

Take some moment to read powerful and innovative life changing books in your field and outside your field. Do not exhitate to ask questions. Watch inspiring videos. Have your good mentor. Go to seminars. Acquiring a real education goes beyond classrooms but the realm life education begins outside. That is why they say what you are taught in classrooms have limits.

6. Protect your mind.

Always keep your mind safe, do not fil it with negative thoughts. What you see on the social media will be saturated with lies. Do not be deceived by curated pictures that will make you feel like a sort of disappointment or failure. Life is a marathon filled with ups and downs and not a reel.

And above all, show kindness to yourself. You do not have to have an understanding about everything. What is important is you showing up daily. You try, you fail. You learn. You grow.

You have left school, that is certain. But you have graduated to the biggest classroom you will ever see which is, LIFE. And either you like it or not, it would teach you.

Here's this week contest link

---

Thank for reading.

_{Images created by MetaAi}