When I was in high school, I imagined my life after graduation playing out like a neat little storybook – because that’s how it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? You go to college, get a job, move out of your parents’ house and become an independent adult.

Only, it’s not that simple.

They say high school is supposed to prepare you for the real world. But after four years of schooling, I haven’t the slightest clue how to “adult.”

Now, I’m not saying that the education I received in high school isn’t valuable, but I don’t know how it can apply to real-world situations. If you asked me if I knew how to pay my taxes, I would tell you I don’t know how but I do know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.

You see a lot of jokes on the internet, most commonly in the form of memes, about how “I can’t adult, don’t make me adult,” along with the continuous gag about how the adult task of scheduling a doctor’s appointment without the help of your parents is a nearly impossible task to complete. Many of us look at these and can jokingly relate on some level – but for some, these jokes may be their reality.

Toward the end of my senior year in high school, I realized with panic that reality was quickly rearing its ugly head and destroying the storybook illusion I had built in my mind. I realized I wasn’t financially or emotionally ready to move out of my parents’ house, let alone manage apartment rent on my own. I had no job experience and only an inkling of understanding on how the world worked.

As I counted down the days to graduation, the growing anxiety that accompanied the question resonating in my brain – the repeated mantra of “WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?” – slowly began to suffocate me.

I wasn’t ready to handle the responsibilities that would come after my high school diploma.

The only real comfort I had concerning my future was that I had another 4 to 6 years of college to look forward to, because school was something I could do – it was something I spent 13 years doing. I could live with another couple years of studying and writing papers – but any thoughts about my life moving beyond that terrified me. And I’m sure a handful of my peers might have felt the same way.

In conclusion, I don’t feel that high school had mentally prepared me for the real world or how to be an adult – to work for a living with the added responsibilities of paying bills, taxes and being an active member of society. At most I felt like a child playing dress up in my mother’s grown-up clothing, pretending I knew what I was doing.

I realize now that some of us graduates were under the delusion that the things we have planned in our own individual storybooks – a well-paying job, a home of our own and a secure future – will be handed to us on a silver platter. In truth, there is no comfortable transition from high school student to adulthood – you graduate and then you are left to your own devices. 

But maybe that’s how it has to be. Maybe we’re supposed to flail and struggle to adapt to this abrupt transition into the adult world. Perhaps the only way we will ever learn how to properly function in society is through firsthand experience.

So to all of you graduates who are fresh from high school and are attending your first year of college- don’t stress about the future. Take one day at a time and don’t let your mistakes bring you down. It’s all a part of becoming an adult.

So to all of you graduates who are fresh from high school and are attending your first year of college- don’t stress about the future. Take one day at a time and don’t let your mistakes bring you down. It’s all a part of becoming an adult.