Navigating Uncertainty as a Graduating Senior

By Adrian Mendoza and Kelsey Cheng

With seven months and counting until my graduation, I’ve been feeling stuck in a point of uncertainty. I do not yet have a job lined up. I don’t know where or if my partner will be going to grad school right after graduation. I don’t know where I might move to or what friends will be nearby. Everything feels too far away to predict but at the same time the future seems to be pummeling towards me at neck breaking speed.

Everything in me wants to prepare for everything that might come my way after graduation. I have an instinct to save up as much money as possible and grill my friends about their post-grad plans. I’ve even started reading self-help books about maintaining a secure relationship as an adult for the moment where my partner and I are no longer in the safe bubble of a college romance.

As you can imagine, I have been repeatedly told that I cannot in fact control everything as much as I might wish. But of course, in an attempt to maintain some semblance of control in a point in my life where I have very little, I am compiling some advice, as much for myself as for you, about how to navigate feelings of uncertainty about the future.

Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

This is probably the biggest piece of advice you will see related to everything college and USC related. You come into USC and feel like everyone is smarter and more confident and has more money than you and over the years you start to realize that that has nothing to do with your own path and your worth. Then you get to senior year and if you’re anything like me, you start to see people with a CVS-receipt-equivalent of a resume and jobs lined up months in advance of graduation and maybe you feel a little jealous or insecure about your own job prospects.

If this is you (and I sincerely hope there are others out there reading this) then know that you’re not alone in feeling this way and it’s okay to not have everything planned out yet. Your 20s are frequently said to be one of the most volatile and unpredictable times of your life. That’s completely normal and you just have to trust that you will navigate it on your own terms, no matter if everyone seems to be ahead of you.

Plan Ahead Where You Can (But Don’t Try to Control Everything)

You cannot control everything. Start by telling yourself that. But you can control some things, so don’t take my advice to trust that things will work out too far and not try to somewhat prepare for post-grad life. You should absolutely still look for those internships, fill out the job applications, research grad schools, cultivate strong relationships, and make peace with the fact that you may have to adjust to “adult friendships” where you’re no longer around each other everyday.

Think Back to High School Graduation

By the time you’re a senior in college, high school feels pretty distant. You probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about those old friendships that burnt out after you left for college, or the nights you spent watching hours of campus tours and move-in vlogs to prepare for what college you may end up at (actually that might have just been me), but take a moment to remember the uncertainty you felt then and appreciate how far you’ve come. You made the transition from high school to college already. That’s a major life change, and you did it successfully. You can do it again when you transition from college to post-grad life.

Take Advantage of the Mental Health Services at USC

I am only one spiraling senior offering you the best advice I can come up with, but USC has actual professionals who have seen countless students go through this same transition. I know that I have spent quite a lot of time discussing my fears of the future with my therapist and only through those conversations have I been able to compile this list of advice.

USC offers free short-term therapy that can be scheduled through your MySHR portal. From there you can be referred to long-term therapy with professionals at Keck, but if you’re not already in therapy and want a short-term solution finding set of sessions, you can absolutely do that with the free sessions offered to all USC students. If you’ve never gone to therapy before, senior year is a perfect time to start.

Trust in Your Relationships

Yes, you probably had some friendships in high school that didn’t last when you left for college, but that doesn’t mean all of your college relationships are doomed after graduation. Personally, I still have amazing friendships with friends from high school, even if I rarely see them in person. Some friendships fell off because I or the other person didn’t deem it worth maintaining, but the friendships that I left high school determined to keep, are strong as ever.

One weird tip to manage friendships is to look at your parents. Do they keep in touch with friends? How often, and how do they meet up? Do they stay in touch with their friends? How often, and how do they connect? The adults in my life maintain their relationships through things like game nights and weekly lunches. A little boring and cheesy, I know. While the days of late-night clubbing or spontaneous boba runs may be behind them, they’ve found new ways to keep their friendships alive.

Even knowing this I have a lot of fears about maintaining relationships I’ve built at USC after graduation, but I’m writing this to tell you and myself that you can trust that the relationships that matter will survive into adulthood.

Balance Love, Career, and Lifestyle

Growing up, a lot of us are told by our parents to focus on school. School, and to an extent, career, should be your top priority. Don’t follow a boy/girl to college! But now, I don’t think career has to be the end-all be-all to my life. During school, I took internships in two other states. While I learned a lot professionally, I found that balancing a long-distance relationship and missing time with my family was tough. Along with my career, I value my romantic relationship, friendships, living in Los Angeles, and so much more.

So, if you’re offered a job in another state or one that demands excessive overtime, take a moment to step back. Make a list of your negotiables and non-negotiables, and consider whether the job is truly right for you. I’ve made the mistake of pushing myself out of my comfort zone relentlessly for the sake of a job. While growth often comes from challenges, it’s important to recognize when the sacrifices just aren’t worth it. Your life should reflect all the things that matter to you, not just your career.

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