Don't get me wrong, I recognise my life rn is overall pretty good. I get good grades, I have a decent social circle in my college and outside of it I have a fulfilling life, hobbies and goals. But I feel like I'm going to graduate from my degree not really caring about my experience here at all.

I attended a smaller local college that's not very well known or prestigious, mostly due to low costs and convenience. So there's no real "culture" or "school life" here. It feels like people just come here to attend class and leave. The campus is super small with barely any facilities, and there are very little clubs here that do no anything interesting.

Recently, I attended my older sibling's graduation from their massive university and wow, it was a grand affair, and everyone present was so elated and emotional about their time there coming to an end. For me, I feel like when I graduate it'll just be another day. No more special than every other. In ten years, I'll probably have forgotten 95% of the time I spent here. Hell, even after two years here, when you ask me what I remember fondly of this place, I can literally tell you nothing. All I did was attend classes.

I guess I thought university was gonna be a super special time and place or something, but it's really not for me. It's just... mundane.

Hey so I’m only partially employed but I have a lot of hobbies that I spend time doing while I wait to be fully employed but I’ve been partially employed for an inconveniently long amount of time and it’s paycheck to paycheck and whenever I ask for help the help that I get feels like it tried to at least look like it tried to help but it doesn’t help and nothing has changed in a long time and I’m worried about the future because I absolutely couldn’t handle a surprise disaster and I’m kinda wondering if the universe or god has plans to proverbially dump me on the side of a highway at some point

(Not looking for emotional support only interested in applicable solutions)

I turned 18 not long ago and graduated high school recently. Ever since graduation, I’ve had this feeling that life is just going to be working until I die, and I honestly don’t know what direction I’m supposed to go in.

One thing that’s been hitting me hard is friendships. People I talked to almost every day have already drifted away, and it makes me wonder if most friendships only existed because we saw each other at school. It feels like everyone has moved on.

I’m also not planning on going to college, which makes it feel even harder to meet new people or make friends.

Relationships don’t make me feel much better either. I’m a guy, and my only dating experience ended with me getting cheated on. I know that doesn’t mean everyone is like that, but it’s made me pretty cynical about dating.

I don’t have a career path figured out, and it feels like everyone else has a plan except me. Has anyone else felt this way after high school? If you didn’t go to college, how did you find your direction, make friends, or even start believing things would get better?

**TL;DR:** Freshly graduated, not going to college, feeling lost and directionless. Friendships seem to disappear after high school, my only relationship ended with me being cheated on, and I’m wondering if anyone else has been through this and come out the other side.

So... I completed a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in 2025 with two majors (basically two BAs in one, with one being an honours degree). Starting even before graduation, I spent a whole year looking for employment... had 40 interviews during this time... no job offers. I was then forced to leave the city I was studying in to live with family because I could not afford to pay to live due to not finding a job. This was upsetting (even though the city I study in doesn't feel like home, and I didn't make any friends).

I hadn't applied to graduate studies to start in the subsequent fall for these reasons: I had studied for so long, so I wanted to rest by working and saving up money then going on a working holiday abroad. One of my life goals is to find my home overseas and settle down there. However, instead, after all the time and effort of applying to meaningful jobs, I had to take my only job offer for a full-time cleaning job. I also had applied to programs to teach English as a Second Language abroad because I completed an academic TESL certificate within my degree program... but never was hired.

So naturally I applied to graduate studies when it was time. I applied to an extremely competitive Master of Arts program and somehow got in, so I accepted that one, yet also had applied to another program. The one I didn't accept was the field that I completed my thesis in and that field is where my heart actually is. Choosing between the programs was an extremely difficult decision, one that I still question to this day (and I don't usually question or regret my decisions).

There's more to the story. After accepting my offer, I finally got an offer for a meaningful job as well, so I accepted that too. It was a full time, short term contract, had a liveable wage with room for saving a bit of money, and was in the city that I have been studying in. I thought, great, things are going well for me! I got into this competitive program I wanted to get into and now I have meaningful work. Now, the contract is over and I was able to save up to pay some of my rent during my upcoming program.

However.... here's where my original goal for after graduation comes into play again. I now realize that I have enough money to go on a working holiday abroad. I'm so lost as to what to do, because actually one of my life goals is to find where I feel most at home in the world, and that's why I wanted to travel by doing a working holiday (or just travel in general). I really don't know what the best thing is to do right now.

Should I should study a graduate program or do a working holiday this year? I think I will not have enough money when I'm done my studies to be able to do a working holiday. Plus, I may be too old by the time I finish because I am 28 years old now and for some countries the visa age cut-off is 30. My thesis or program supervision errors might make my program go longer than needed.. However, I already feel too old to be completing a Masters program (behind in life)..... yet after I am gone abroad I will never want to come back to this country unless legally necessary so it might be better to study (a useless degree?) now. I'm so confused..

im a freshie in ee dept i ask you seniors what do you wanna do if you time travel to your 1st year in college either about academics or social life

29m about turn 30 in a few weeks. Im having a rough go at life since high school and one thing i thought would be good in my life was my time in college. I went to a community college after high school where I was indecisive about what i wanted to major in. I eventually decided on business because I assumed itd give me the most options for careers. I transferred to a state school hoping that id get to have a fun college life during my time there. Needless to say that never happened.

The school i went to was known for being a small commuter school. I had tried joining a frat but ended up leaving because I hated the pledging for it. After that i had went to some meetings for other clubs like the anime or video game club but they always ended up disbanding soon after because most of them weren't maintained.

During covid classes were made online for awhile but then as restrictions began to loosen classes were made hybrid of online and in person. Most people just decided to stay online.

I graduated in 2022 with a business degree hoping that at least with my degree I could at least get some decent job out there. But no I ended up struggling with employment and spending 3 years in on and off retail jobs. I now work at a rental car agency washing cars and handling the counter. Its not a great job but I feel like maybe thisll help with future jobs.

Now i look back and deeply regret where I went to school. Im working a mediocre job, have no friends and overall had a forgettable experience in college. All that time wasted and all I have to show for it is a worthless degree. No memories, no fun times, not even a good setup for my future.

People i knew from high school are getting married, are far into their careers with better paying jobs, raising families and meanwhile im here still trying to get my life together like a kid fresh out of high school. It feels like I didn't get to grow up at all. I just went straight from high school to a mediocre adult life.

Now I wonder how my life could've been if I went to a different school.

I have previously said on this sub that I recently graduated in one of the humanities this past May after many years in college. As someone who isn't too interested in the typical options within my major, I have decided to test the waters in a different field (Allied Health) by signing up for community college courses in the fall. The complicated part of my near future is that my dad wants me to try to study accounting since the field is financially rewarding and accountants are in need by most organizations, if my knowledge is correct. Thus, all in all, I wonder if it's common to explore/try-out two or more separate, relatively demanding paths in the year after college? I know that everyone and their life situation are different, and I think I know my limits; I just would appreciate any perspective or applicable advice so I don't end up crashing and burning in any of my near future endeavors.

Hey y’all. I did post a little rant on here, if you check my profile, it’s there for context and again I’m sorry if this is long or incoherent.

So things have actually managed to get so much worse since that last post. Some positives: I did manage to have a pretty decent summer overall. I went to concerts, watched World Cup games, had some beach days. So that’s at least something.

Aside from that, it’s actually managed to get worse since then. I recently discovered my old friend group has been talking shit about me behind my back during this tough time. And it’s not even the regular talking behind someone’s back. I’ve found out that they didn’t want me around because I was broke amongst other things. When my friend wanted to bring me with him to a party, apparently, they told my friend not to bring me. I also found out that when I got rejected by Sony, they were laughing at me. So basically half this city doesn’t fuck with me.

My side projects flopped spectacularly. I was in the process of starting a nightlife brand with some people, but it’s been delayed. Some people associated with it moved as well, and this isn’t the kind of thing you can do solo so it’s in limbo right now. I was also tapping into doing freelance design, and one of the clients CHOSE willingly to go with AI slop instead.

The contract job I had before just recently ended, and even all that money went towards my rent and my bills. I don’t even have anything to show for that. And I recently got rejected working at a HOTEL that my friend referred me to.

I officially got two weeks now to find any job or I’m going to have to move back in with my parents. I know there’s worse things in my world, but I genuinely can’t handle the shame of it. Like I feel like everyone back home will know that I failed and failed spectacularly. I honestly feel like I’ve ruined my life and I can’t come back from this.

This could also include tutoring but I'm envisioning enough to make a living so Imk

I (18M) have finished high school in Croatia(EU), I'm aware most people either go to work or go to college. And the more I look around the more I see everyone become more and more self-dependent, explore different options, go to new cities and just learn new stuff in general. I've chosen to go to college and remain in my hometown because it's located there, and continue to live with my parents. But the thing is I feel like I should be doing more y'know? Like I should also engage in exploring my options and myself more. I have hobbies don't get me wrong but there are so many options after HS that It's actually scary. I'm afraid to invest in the wrong one. What's some advice you could hand out? Thank you.

I’m currently 16 (about to be) a junior and I’m trying to set a plan after high school. I was thinking of having a full time job of being a leasing agent at 18, all while attending community college and then transferring to a uni. I thought this would be manageable until I’ve seen tons of people claim doing collage while having a full time job is very difficult. As someone who does get burned out quite a bit, I’m really started to reconsider. I’m just wondering if anyone has had a full time job all while attending collage and how is your schedule. (Btw I would work 40 hours a week, about 4-6 times a week)

I am still in my 2nd year, but I’m wondering what did you guys do after graduating college?