6 Things Every College Student Should Know Before they Graduate

It’s Spring Semester. And for someone of us, that means one thing: We’re almost ready to graduate. All the homework assignments, projects, and papers seem to be concerns that will never arise again — or, at least for a while. As the summer quickly approaches, all your thoughts may be of the fun things you have planned, or what you want to do, or tasks you have to complete. But keep in mind that with graduation comes great responsibility. Here are six tips for helping you get used to the post-college “real world.”

Pay Back Your Student Loans

To start this process the first step is to contact your student loan advisors to find out your loan repayment options and see how they can fit into your budget. Find out the total cost of the loan and try to aim on paying off the high interest loan first.

Pay Your Bills

Allow yourself a monthly allowance and always set aside your main properties first like perhaps your rent, mortgage, loan payment, bills, or whatever your monthly expenses may be. Just don’t forget to add you student loan payments in the midst of them all. Whatever you have left after you’ve used for some for entertainment purposes, the rest should be put into a savings account for a rainy day.

Build Credit

Building credit is also an essential part of life, especially after graduation, whether we know it now, or not. If you plan on buying a house, renting an apartment, opening up a business, or a secured credit card you will need to establish your credit. A great way to establish your credit and to keep a good credit score is to pay your bills on time.

Check Your Credit Score

The first thing you should do is find out your credit score, there are many companies who can be a resource into obtaining your credit score. For example, there are popular resources such as Credit Karma, and Equifax, and many others. Some of those companies offer the service for free or a very low cost. Whatever you chose just be sure to find out your score. Once you retain your score, you can begin your journey to fixing, building, or establishing your credit. That will allow you to have a better handle on your score and provide you some help on to what you need to do to improve your score.

Find a job

You may have a sense of fulfillment along with relief and feel proud of yourself. All that hard work is finally paying off, with that degree you can feel like the possibilities are endless! Unfortunately–reality check–that doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to jump right into the job of your dreams. Be careful not to settle for any job that will occupy most of your time and stray you away from the career you’ve always wanted. The best advice is to search for a job in the degree in which you acquired. You will feel happy and fulfilled knowing your passion is your job. The hard part of it all is that most graduates find out that jobs aren’t thrown at them but instead require lots of dedication and search quantities. Most graduates experience many trials and hardships which isn’t the most efficient way to start off in the workforce. So…

Keep Your Head Up

It might be tough out there for a while. Try to replace that negative energy with positive energy and strive hard, after all you’ve gotten this far to give up now or settle for less than you are. Stress relievers like meditation, yoga, and regular exercises can all help you keep a positive attitude. Remember you have so much to be thankful for. Those long tiresome nights have finally paid off and your journey begins. Keep your head high and shoot for the stars and remember what they say: “Rome wasn’t built in a day!”