Here’s the deal: no one asked me if I wanted to graduate. How rude and inconsiderate.

I had four years to prepare, you say? Shut up. I can give you one heck of an education on how quickly four years pass, in case you don’t already know.

The past spring semester has been a montage of these scenarios: I frantically grip slices of Jeff’s Pizza, mumbling the lyrics of Sweet Caroline between bites with a mouth clogged with melted cheese. I walk by Lake Laverne, shimmering in the sun with a heavenly glow, whispering to Lancelot and Elaine, “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird. Say it! Say I’m a bird!” I roam campus, Campustown and Main Street, nattering on about soaking up as many ISU vibes as I can handle with the hopeful panic and intensity of a woman desperately willing to believe Hilton magic will work its charms and slow down time.

But graduation is coming at a faster clip than students sprinting to catch a CyRide, and the alarms are ringing in my head louder than the bells of the campanile at noon.

Our time at Iowa State is coming to a close, and for the rest of you ISU undergraduates and graduate students, your time is passing more quickly than you notice. We can drag our feet as much as we want, but in the spirit of keeping as open of a mind as I did when I tried alligator at the dining center, let’s prepare ourselves to become as invested in another community as we were at Iowa State.

We can all thrive after graduation, but let’s take it one step at a time. Here’s your survival guide to graduation:

Choosing your next steps

The unknown is intimidating, which is what makes moving on from college nerve wracking. For many ISU students, they have been preparing for college since elementary school. Only the last four to six years have been spent preparing for a career.

Deciding what to do after those years, whether it be continued education or finding a job, is one of the most difficult decisions made at this point in our lives.

I was so worried about making the right decision. Some of my friends are going to graduate school or law school. Others are getting married, and more are moving away to big cities.

How do I know if I’m making the “right” decision or moving to the “right” city?

There is no “right” decision to be made. In the same way my friends and I have had different jobs, internships and classes, we have different life goals, and that’s OK.

Adam Guenther, 2015 ISU graduate who currently lives in Ames and was active in the LGBT communities and Student Government while a student, said he has gone through a similar process after graduation.

When Guenther graduated, he was facing the predicament that about 70 percent of 2015 graduates faced, according to the 2015 AfterCollege Career Insight Survey: he hadn’t yet secured a job.

“Graduate school didn’t really work out for me,” Guenther said. “I kind of put a lot of my eggs in one basket. I didn’t really start applying to jobs until after spring break. Mid-panic, about two weeks before graduation this time last year, I went to go see the career service director for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and he gave me a few different leads.”

At the height of his job search, Guenther said he would sift through online job boards and make lists of jobs to apply to, sending out six to seven job applications a day.

“It’s not like how they have at Iowa State on AccessPlus [with] a giant job board [where] you can just email everyone,” Guenther said. “My contacts were students or faculty members, and they’re not exactly hiring loads upon loads of students.”

Iowa State University is an institution devoted to preparing the next generation of educated adults who will join the workforce. Each college has career services and faculty advisers you can ask for help.

While searching for a full-time job, Guenther said he was able to work at Hy-Vee, something that allowed him to keep from moving back home with his parents, and a move his employers said showed tenacity and work ethic.

“I really wanted to start mid-May with a job, something really great,” Guenther said. “I had a lot of friends, being in Student Government and Student Affairs, who ended up going to grad school or getting a good job right after college. You’re like, ‘shucks, why can’t I get something like that? What could I have done?’”

Comparing yourself to others is an exercise in futility, and Guenther said the only thing that matters is persistence. Those unanswered inquiries or rejections simply mean you’re turning cards in the deck until you find an ace.

“Eventually, everyone gets stuck in a job they don’t really like, and if it ends up being your first job, it’ll get better,” Guenther said. “There’s always going to be a skill or a task or some type of trait you’re going to pick up. There’s always a positive side you’ve got to take and not try to focus on what could have been.”

Choosing the next step after graduation pertains to your values. If you value your family, then pick the job close to home or don’t turn up your nose at your parents’ basement. If your values lie in community service, take the job at the non-profit that pays less than a pittance. It’s OK to trek across the country or the world to chase a dream.

There’s plenty of time for settling later.

Finances

I’m going to have to hold myself back from tapping into my inner Jordan Belfort after cashing my first paycheck. The thought of having a regular paycheck and not feeling the bottom of my stomach drop out when I spend $20 to fill my gas tank makes me want to crank a stereo and spray bottles of sweet champagne, limbs flailing, until my apartment floor is covered in the sticky drink.

Just imagine with me for a moment: when you get a job, you have a steady paycheck, hopefully one that covers all of your expenses. You will no longer have tuition and outrageous college-town rent rates draining your bank account.

However, we are entering the real world, remember? With graduation comes the required student loan payments.

But, wait! There’s more. You still have to pay rent and groceries, possibly afford a new car, pay car and health insurance, file taxes, make credit card payments, buy presents for the thousands of weddings you will most likely attend in the next five years and shell out money for any other number of reasons.

Stressed yet? Sorry, but join the club.

However, there are steps we can all take to secure our finances after graduation.

If you borrow federal student loans you are required to go through exit counseling, and the Student Loan Education Office at Iowa State offers in-person or online exit counseling so you can find out how much to budget each month to pay off student loans. Returning students can enlist the help of the loan education office for counseling before taking out any private loans.

It is possible for students to borrow more than they can pay back if they don’t have a job after college or aren’t vigilant in what they spend loan money on, said Jennifer Schroeder, who works at the Student Loan Education Office.

“A lot of times students don’t give it a lot of thought because if you’re borrowing your freshman year, that’s four or five years later,” Schroeder said. “We do have students [who want] more money for things that are not education related. They tell us what they used [refund money] for and it’s like, ‘well, really that was intended for your rent or your tuition, not whatever you used it for.’ Not everyone admits that, and I don’t think they’re realizing they admit that, they’re just explaining their situation.”

If your financial situation changes or you are not able to meet your pay schedule, contact your loan servicer to see what adjustments can be made.

Another part of being an adult is setting a budget. Any number of budgeting apps exist to help track and allocate how much money you should be spending on various expenses, depending on your income.

Making money and retaining that money takes research and willpower, Schroeder said.

“As an adult, you need to be your best financial advocate,” Schroeder said. “You know what’s best for your budget, you know what you can afford. You need to stick to those guns. You just need to be able to stand up for yourself financially because no one else is going to be able to do that the way you can.”

For the first few months after graduation, I plan to track everything I spend money on so I know how much to reasonably allocate in my budget. Since I will no longer have as many Mug Night opportunities to drop cash on drinks and a basket of fried cheese, I may allocate less to entertainment than I have during college.

I also plan to save as much money as possible for emergencies and retirement. I don’t mean squirreling away dollar bills in a coffee can in the corner of my room. Most employers will match some of the percentage of money you take out of your paycheck to put in savings. And if you don’t know how quickly your pocket change can grow interest over time, take a look at a graph of compound interest rates.

Making Friends

I’ve said for months that I don’t want to make new friends. I have friends. They understand me and I understand them and we only judge each other’s decisions when they do something dumb and I have to help them understand how dumb it is … for their own good.

I’m a stubborn person who is not given to accepting change. That change — a healthy change, I’m forced to admit — is being forced upon me.

But how does one even make friends? I can’t remember. I know I don’t want to spend every night alone in my apartment with a Netflix account.

Here are some places I’m going to try to trick someone into thinking I’m intelligent, witty and inventive:

Work gatherings: Work is the institution recent graduates have that is most like school. We all will share a common interest and have many things to talk about. It’s natural to become friends with the people you work with, but keep your interactions respectful and conduct yourself with decorum. You aren’t (hopefuly) going to be holding back a coworkers hair while they puke rum and cokes into a bar bathroom.

Recreation centers: Pumping iron next to another profusely sweating human seems like a weird way to bond, but rec. centers often have intramurals, casual group sports or events where you can meet friends. And if you already pay for a gym membership, get the bang for your buck.

Nonprofits: Find a nonprofit or charity you are passionate about. Meet friends and help others. Seriously, what could go wrong?

Alumni Association: Iowa State’s reach is farther and wider than you will ever understand. Your alma mater will help you bond with other graduates. Contact the Alumni Association to come back for reunions or meet with other graduates in your area.

Free community events: Scope the city website to see what events are on the calendar in your area. Plan a picnic with friends to help relax while not spending money at a restaurant. Schroeder suggested seeing what membership benefits you already have for clubs you already pay for.

Come home

I plan to come back to Ames many times in the next year, and you can come back home, too. But we have to understand that our home is changing, and 30,000-plus other students will make their mark on this community. Our home is never going to be exactly the same as we left it because we are all moving on.

I’ve enjoyed my adventures at Iowa State immensely, and there are many more adventures yet to be explored.