GRADUATION SURVIVAL GUIDE

Graduation Survival Guide

“The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…

...I will dispense this advice now.”

(Baz Luhrman in the Sunscreen Song)

Okay. So no one told you what to expect or how you are going to feel in the weeks before graduation, finals week, on your graduation day, and the after effects. Graduation is the commencement, which means it is the beginning of your “real life.” Whether you worked hard or didn’t work hard, whether you have regrets or you are happy with every decision you made in college, whether you got into the graduate school you had been dreaming of, or got rejected (politely of course) from every school in which you applied, whether you got your dream job, or you are currently unemployed for the upcoming year, whether your life is in perfect order right now, or if your life is in a (wonderful) state of chaos…

DON’T THINK ABOUT THOSE (MINOR) DETAILS RIGHT NOW while adorned in your cap and gown. You are a college graduate! That is something major, important, and a major milestone in your life! Smile and be happy!

Here is my survival guide to graduation. If you have anything to add please write in the comments section! I would love to hear what you have to say.

1)Celebrate this milestone the night before graduation (unless you are finishing a last minute paper to fulfill that 0.333 credit to graduate! Get some coffee and stay in the library until you are done). Celebrate the night of graduation, and celebrate the weekend of graduation in whatever way you like to have fun.

Here is what I did: I went to an engagement party the night before my graduation(??!), ate Golan, and then did an emergency fix on my friends graduation gown(you know who you are J). We were going to go out and celebrate but we never got around to it….my advice: get around to it!

2)On the day of graduation: look your best! Walk with confidence and let your family take all the pictures they want. This is their day too. They are so happy that they have forgotten that there is a day after graduation. All they can think about is the graduation itself and how proud they are of you (and themselves for helping you get here). Remember to thank them. They don’t even mention the future because they are too wrapped up in this precious moment. This is a great thing for us “unfinished twenty something’s.” But don’t get too excited because everything will come back to them in the car ride home or that weekend…their memory lapse will have been just a brief moment in time…so enjoy those few hours of bliss! (Love you mom and dad!)

Here is what I did: I got a haircut the day before graduation. Bad idea. My hair stylist was not in that day so I had a random lady butcher my hair and it did not look good under the cap. “Don’t fix what ain’t broken” the day before graduation. Don’t make any drastic changes for these pictures! They will be hanging in your house forever!

3)Sit with your friends. Graduation is long and you need to have people to converse with(and make fun of everything that is going on). I was very happy to have two good friends by my side. We had a blast! The rest of my friends were staying a super senior year and are now graduating! Congrats to all of you! It is also important to have a very witty sibling texting you from the audience. Thanks sis! 

4)Fair warning: you might be disappointed by the speeches at graduation. It might be different this year and they might be really great, but in case you are disappointed, have no fear. I am giving you links to my favorite commencement speeches.

You might not listen to them that night but listen to them over the next few weeks when you are mulling over what just happened to you…wait…I graduated? Go to your nearest favorite coffee shop that has wifi(starbucks!) and listen to them. Trust me…they are worth listening to.

Hillary Clinton at Barnard College: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFv1XlFwwRw

J.K Rowling at Harvard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkREt4ZB-ck

Ellen Degeneres at Tulane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JccudODwwY

Sara Besnoff: Student Council President: Barnard College

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS1CqQW32SE

This last one by the Barnard student council president really spoke to me and I would ask my Stern friends’ (you know who you are) to take a look at this one. All of my Super Senior Stern College Women who sat with me in my women studies classes, in the caf, the beit midrash, 35^th street, lectures, events, 3^rd ave in the later years discussing everything under the sun, growing into ourselves together, while having the best time. This speech reminds me of us and what we did at Stern College for Women. I am so proud of all of you and your accomplishments. I can’t wait to see your research published, your name with an MD, PHD, JD, MSW, CEO, DMD at the end, the future Professors, the future lawyers, writers, dentists, nobel peace prize winners, Jewish education reformers, yoatzot halacha, GPATS, future OU directors…I can go on and on. Our dreams will be actualized…I can already see it. All of your hard work will pay off.

4)Enjoy all the mazel tovs. You will get a lot of congratulations and mazel tovs in your hometown's, especially in synagogue. Act confident and smile a lot. Enjoy the moment. We will deal with the future after the weekend.

4)READ UNFINISHED TWENTY SOMETHING READING MATERIAL: Now for those of us unfinished, or those of us with some things worked out and other things not worked out, here is some good reading material to let you know that you are not the only one in this stage in life. We are our own stage of life. We are legitimate! It is called “the emerging adult.”

What is it about twenty somethings? This one is a little heavy http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22Adulthood-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Follow up article: glorifies the twenty something: How to be a twenty something:thoughtcatalog.com/2010/how-to-be-a-20-something

And something you might need months after graduation….http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/on-spiraling/

But for right now…don’t look at number 4, that one is for later. Enjoy your graduation! Right now is your time to shine! And there will be many other shining moments in your life and this is a big one.

Hope this helps J

And…

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2011!!!