Let’s just begin by breaking these two down:
Regular Stress: Stress the average human has to deal with. Examples include work, school, traffic, relationships, etc. Things that add stress on any typical day.
And the latter, Senior Stress: the enormously important, yet extremely tedious and seemingly impossible task of actually graduating on time, and everything that goes with that. So you take all of the regular stresses, and then you add on the definitive element of “If I mess this up, I’m not graduating”. We must turn everything in, we cannot skip classes, we cannot do bad on anything, because ultimately, we cannot fail ANY of our classes, or we WILL be screwed into staying in this earthly hell yet another semester, equating out to another seven months after the spring term ends.
But to put a bow on an already perfect package of stress and anxiety, let’s now add another piece to the puzzle:
It’s the question we, as seniors, dread more than anything else and avoid talking about at all costs, but seem to be asked on a weekly basis, “So, what are you going to do after graduation?” The person asking is always annoyingly bright-eyed and full of decent intentions, curious about your life. Some us have respectable answers, some of us are just trying to get to graduation day without any discrepancies, some of us aren’t emotionally ready to graduate at all.
But let’s say we are, indeed, thinking that far ahead, because let’s be honest: we are forced to. You want to go to grad school? Better have taken that GRE by now, or you better count your lucky stars you can take it by the end of the month and your schools will accept late scores. Tack on the hunt for at least two, decent letters of recommendation, and the money for the application. And after it’s all said and done, and you’ve sent the best version of yourself on paper to a couple of different schools, that’s just for the CHANCE to get an interview for the graduate program. You could do all of that work applying for the graduate program of your dreams, for the heads of the program to sit at their round table laughing at the entirety of your college career and slide your application in the nearest trash can, moving onto the next sorry candidate. Just take a moment to digest that.
I digress.
On the other hand, and I have to say it’s the hand I’m falling into right now, I need a break from school. I’m going to go straight into the workforce after graduation and a two month life-hiatus to ease my mind. But plunging into the workforce is another task in itself, sort of similar to graduate school also. You want to have a job for after you graduate? You better have been networking since your sophomore year of college. You better have had a few internships and some solid work to show for it, on top of your serving job (or of the like) where you actually make your money. You have to have a plan. What company, which position, and why? And don’t even think just because you have that fancy undergraduate degree that you’re guaranteed your 50K salary with paid vacation and sick days. Pump the breaks sparky, we appreciate the enthusiasm, but you’ll be lucky to get an entry level job paper pushing and licking envelopes, barely making more than what you would make if you had no degree. And if you lick enough envelopes, you could get a promotion in the next two years.
Outside of the growing-larger-by-the-minute To Do List, we have the added pressures of not disappointing those that are rooting for us. Our parents, proud and hopeful as we are about to enter the next phase of our lives. Our siblings, looking to us for an example, and giving them something to look forward to and work towards. And our friends, who are just as excited for us to graduate so we can deal with all the pains of adulthood simultaneously.
So cheers. seniors! And best of luck dealing with one of the most stressful times of your life, thus far. May we party like rockstars after graduation.