For all of you collegiettes who are either getting ready to graduate or (gasp) already have, you’re probably feeling a mixture of emotions. The idea of graduating and leaving the safety net known as your college bubble can be exciting, but at the same time, it’s a little scary. Will you get a job? Will you stay in touch with your friends? How are you going to pay back all of those student loans? But no matter how scary the Real World may seem, there are tons of fun, little perks to look forward once you grab that much-deserved diploma. Here are HC’s top 10 reasons to get pumped for life after college.
1. You’ll never have to wear shower shoes again.
Seriously, how gross are those shower shoes? It’s bad enough having to share a bathroom with an entire floor of girls—not to mention dealing with cold water and getting no water pressure—but the thought of not having to slip your feet into another pair of nasty flip-flops is enough to make your toes sing.
2. No more textbooks. Ever.
They’re big, they’re heavy and they’re insanely expensive. It’s the worst feeling looking at your bank account after the first week of classes and knowing that you are $500 poorer. It’s no fun spending hundreds of dollars at your campus bookstore knowing that you may open that overpriced chem book only once—or maybe even not at all. Can you imagine all of those adorable summer sandals and wedges you can buy with the money you’ll be saving? Plus, without those textbooks, you’ll actually have time to read Tina Fey’s Bossypants for fun (what a "novel" idea).
3. You can kiss all-nighters good-bye.
Almost everyone has done it. You set up camp in the library, chugged the Red Bulls and set two alarm clocks. Afterwards, you felt so exhausted that you may as well have taken a jet to Tokyo and back. Here’s the good news: you’ll never have to keep your eyes open for more than 24 hours again for the sake of an exam. No more tests, quizzes, projects or PowerPoint presentations to keep you up at night when you should be getting your beauty sleep.
4. Your dating scene just got upgraded.
Do you ever find yourself at a party and wonder why you feel so out of place? Hint: look around. The answer could be simply because you’ve found yourself surrounded by underclassmen boys that look young enough to still be carded at rated-R movies. All of a sudden, instead of feeling like the elephant in the room, you feel like the creepy old cougar in the room that is trying to get with a freshman because you couldn’t find someone your own age. One perk to graduating is that when you head downtown to a party after work, you’re probably not going to be the oldest person there (phew). Another plus: older guys will actually want to date you for the sole reason that they won’t have to introduce you to their friends as “she’s still in college.” Your chances are better at meeting older, more mature guys who are looking for girlfriend material as opposed to a fling.
5. You’ll never have to touch dining hall food again.
Admit it: you’re sick of it by now. The chicken that tastes like rubber, the Lucky Charms that you eat three meals a day and the questionable meat that is served on Taco Tuesdays. Sure, having pre-made meals is convenient, but there’s nothing like moving back home and having Mom’s homemade mashed potatoes or even being able to cook for yourself. Nothing tastes sweeter than knowing exactly what’s going into your food and who’s cooking it.
6. You’ll probably lose some weight.
Think about it: between ditching the dining hall food and not feeling the pressure (or the boredom) to have to go out to the bar every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, your jeans are probably going to fit a little better. Don’t be too surprised if you step on the scale and the numbers are bent in your favor. Simply by graduating, you can probably get away from not having to use the elliptical every day at the gym.
7. You’ll have weekends that are actually weekends.
Weekends are supposed to be fun, right? But when you think about it, you always end up sacrificing something when you’re at school, whether it’s going out on Saturday night because you have a big exam coming up on Monday or instead of relaxing with a coffee and the latest issue of Glamour on a Sunday afternoon, you’re reading 100 pages worth of Shakespeare for your Brit Lit class. But just like magic, once classes are done, you suddenly have hours and hours upon free time to do the little things that you were too busy to do before. Can you say, “win”?
8. You’ll have a new social calendar.
Leaving college doesn’t mean you have to leave your social life behind too. Instead of the always-dependable frat parties and $3 margaritas with your roommates to look forward every weekend, you’ll need to make room in your planner for Happy Hours after work with your new coworkers. Instead of the same old 21st birthday shindigs where the b-day girl wears a tiara and drags you to four different bars, you get to look forward to housewarming parties at your friends’ new apartments where you’ll ogle over Ikea furniture and maybe even a few engagement parties too (where you’ll obviously ogle over that gigantic piece of ice). After a couple of years of watching your roommate do keg stands in some random person’s basement, we’d say you’re in need of some new entertainment.
9. You don’t have to sleep in an extra-long twin bed anymore.
You’ve spent the past four years tossing and turning on those ridiculously long mattresses designed to accommodate basketball players. Not only are they super uncomfortable and hard as Neolithic rocks, but when your boyfriend wanted to spend the night, he probably had a tendency of opting for the couch as opposed to squeezing in bed with you. We can’t saw we blame him. The good news is that upon moving out of dorms forever, you’ll also be getting rid of those beds forever too. You can actually make room in your bed when your boyfriend visits, because you’ll actually have it.
10. You’ll have a degree!
You just finished up four years of college—that’s amazing! Remember to give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done. It wasn’t easy, but every time you look up at that framed diploma in your living room, you’ll be reminded of all the hard work that went into getting it—which is the best part of graduation.
Congrats, collegiettes!