The closing of this semester means another chapter of life for the graduating Class of 2018. All of those long nights in the library and times you stood in line forever at the One Stop Enrollment office finally paid off. Wooh, right? Maybe not so much for some people.

The closer that graduation gets, the more I hear about my senior friends facing the reality of absolute adulthood. All of a sudden, the careless facade of college wears down into a valuable degree, what’s next?

While I am asking myself what makes the word of a junior in college writing this advice even valid, I’ve observed friends who have dived head-first into this thing we call “the real world.” My previous debate partner is in law school, traveling the country on a mock-trial team, while another just accepted a full-time job with PepsiCo before even walking the stage. And while I gloat, proud as a peacock watching my friends thrive in their everyday adult-lives on social media, I feel a rock at the pit of my stomach because I wonder how they make it look so easy. The fact of the matter is: it isn’t easy.

To the graduating Class of 2018, as you leave behind the weird in-between of adulthood that we call college, don’t let the world make you, you make it. Walk into that interview like you’ve already got the job, frame your degree and put it high on a wall; you’ve made it this far.

All of the skills that you need to make the world your oyster are already there, you just need to believe in them. You got this, and next year while holding my breath, I will too.

Thank you for joining me this semester.

For the Class of 2018,

Xoxo,

Big Sis