the standard post-grad passive aggressive post

Ok so not buying new highlighters, fresh notebooks and my must-have blue ballpoint pens has really taken a toll on me.

I am programmed to become excited when I smell a fresh pack of pencils and to prepare for the awkward first day of class conversation.

"Hi. I'm April Adams. I'm from Aiken, S.C. You probably have no idea where it is. I am a International Studies and Spanish major and my favorite food is french fries."

I miss walking into a class and seeing an old buddy who's in the same department as me. I miss sizing up the professors, realizing which ones are the pricks and which ones will instantly love me. In reality, I guess I just miss the certainty, the goals and the routine of school.

I've been a student for as far back as I can remember. No seriously, since we were 4 or 5. That's actually insane.

Admittedly, it was very convienent to have a catch-all response for the question that Americans are addicted to asking.

"What do you do?"

It was always, "I'm a student".

People love that answer. It satisfies them. It helps them categorize you, place you in a box and keep you there until they come up with some other "life defining" question. But what annoys me is my entire life I was taught to "be an individual" and "be something more".

THAT'S A LIE. If it was the truth, my friends, fellow peers and myself would not have been so terrified of answering that question as follows, "I don't know yet".

Literally, it haunted our dreams. Made us feel inadequate. Made us feel like failures. And that is incredibly obnoxious!

I have a job. A great job. But the next time I tell someone I just graduated and they ask me if I have a job yet, I'm going to say,

"Yes. I work as April Adams at a place called Life. And let me tell ya, the benefits are GREAT".


peace easy,

the fourth


P.S. I bought those school supplies. THEY WERE ON SALE! You can't blame a girl. Old habits die hard...

P.S.S. There are LITERALLY a thousand articles written about the overwhelming and irrational feeling we get post-grad. I don't know if that's comforting, sad or hilarious. Here's one and here's another. Ha! And Buzzfeed.