There are lots of people like me who feel pressured to put their dream career aside in favor of going for what their parents want them in, or choosing the career that makes the most money despite having little to no interest in the field whatsoever. 

It’s even more of a struggle when you aren’t actually sure of what you want to do later in life, and also there’s the devastating realization of how costly it’s going to be to get an education and to live in general. Life will get harder. Life will get more expensive. 

For most people, debt is inevitable and it realistically cannot be paid off until much later in their lives. It’s a stressful situation that many of us will find ourselves in soon, and somehow just thinking about it is more stressful than the inevitable future itself. With all of these upcoming worries, one can only wonder if there will ever be a moment of peace in your life, if you’ll ever be able to have a day to enjoy what you love to do even if it’s just for an hour. And there will be. There will be plenty of days like that in the future.

Just like high school, it’s important to not give into crunch culture. You don’t always have to work, you don’t always have to be booked and busy, you don’t always have to do at least something. If anything, your life will be a lot more manageable and easy once you graduate. 

You’ll have more freedoms. You’ll no longer have to be bound by societal expectations or subject to high school peer pressure, because you’re more free to do whatever you want. It’s your life and you get to live it however you’d like. You don’t have to put aside your hobbies and free time because you feel obligated to do so since high school basically drilled it into you for four years. 

Be kind to yourself when you graduate. Try new things. Leave the house even if it means walking up and down the street for ten minutes. Look forward to the little things that life will offer once you officially become an adult. 

Abandon that mindset that you always have to work, work, and work or else you’ll never succeed in life. By becoming an adult you’re transitioning into a new person, entering a new period of your life that can be treated as a blank slate that you can experiment freely on. Adopt a new outlook on life in the process.