Elite Daily

Leaving college is terrifying. Read how stars, changemakers, and other grads got through it.

By Emily Kubincanek
Emily Kubincanek is a student at Point Park University, majoring in Creative Writing and Screenwriting. After graduation, she hopes to find a job in her field (if anyone could be so lucky). I packed my Powerpuff Girls backpack a full two nights…
By Candace Butera
Candace Butera is a graduating senior at Northwestern University, majoring in Journalism and Legal Studies. After graduation, she'll be moving to Washington D.C. and away from her beloved Evanston, Illinois campus. In about a month, I’m heading…
By Samantha Stokes
Samantha Stokes is a graduating senior at the University of Missouri, majoring in Print/Digital News and Magazine Writing. After graduation, her dreams are a little up in the air, which makes them all the more exciting. In less than one month, I'll…
By Amy Chan
Amy Chan is a graduating senior at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in Classics with minors in English and French. After graduation, her dream is to move to New York and get a job either in publishing or at a magazine. In the long term,…
By Lilli Petersen
Listen: It's great when things go your way. But a lot of the time, things... don't. And one of the roughest feelings in the world can be when you've worked long and hard for something — something like, say, your dream job — and then you get rudely…
By Joseph Milord
First comes the countdown to graduation, then comes another suspenseful period: the six-month grace period of loan deferment. For many students who are inching closer towards receiving their degrees and have the common misfortune of student debt,…
By Amanda Fama
Social media can be a ton of fun, but for many people, it's become so much more than sharing brunch pics and throwbacks. In fact, social media can be a vital tool for finding a job, because it helps users create brands for themselves and gives them…
By Alexandra Svokos
I'm not going to sugarcoat it: Graduating without a job was terrifying. That terror was really heightened by the fact that it seemed as if just about every one of my friends got jobs before I did by graduation. But I'm here to tell you that you can,…
By Chelsea Stewart
Confession time: I moved back in with my parents for seven months after I graduated from college. While I had certain expectations for how things were supposed to be once I moved in — y'know, like being able to stay out as long as I wanted or…