Life After College


     I once saw a post by Jon Acuff that said "“Your 20s are lonelier than you expect. They’re glamorized in culture as the time of your life. The truth is, when you leave college, you leave the tightest, largest concentration of people your age. You must fight for community. Seek it out. Be brave. Be deliberate. #GradAdvice” -Jon Acuff

   Something has never rang truer in my mind. Post college life is Topsy turvey, even if you go directly into your field of study. Where you're supposed to be and what you're supposed to be doing aren't exactly clear cut. In fact, they are as clear as mud. Life after college is tough. You do leave that tight knit community and you leave that semi set in place schedule. You leave that last bit of full structure and you are whisked into the world. How you go about this time of life is what makes it or breaks it. 

   When I graduated college, I had a plan and it was a good one. I would try to get back up to Chicago to live and work. I had an awesome FT job lined up, and an awesome apartment situation. It was perfect. And the doors the Lord had swung open, he swung shut and shut they stayed. Before they were shut however, I didn't want to plant myself anywhere after I had moved back home because I knew I was trying to move back out and I didn't want to establish any relationships really because I knew I would be leaving again soon. Not having a job I really enjoyed (as most don't right away) and not having good community around me made for one of the toughest times of my life. (Of course there were other things that happened but I think I've shared enough about that for now). 
    All of the ways I needed to be filled, I wasn't being filled. I wasn't living in the moment but I was living for what was next. I wasn't being filled with community and other friends, I was just expecting it from a couple of people. I wasn't plugged into a church because I was constantly traveling and trying to move. I was seeking to be fulfilled rather than HE who fulfills and I shot myself in the foot. 
    
Be present where you are after college and get plugged in until it's time to go again. 

     Once the doors closed to Chicago and I came to terms with the fact that I would be living at home again for an undetermined amount of time, I decided to plug in. I decided to reach out to community because I know I needed it desperately. I did the scary thing and literally emailed the small group connection page at my new church and went to the group that responded. I showed up to a ministry on campus, knowing 1 person (kinda) and kept going back. I was unemployed for 2 months before a PT job opened up that would help me get my foot in the door for where I wanted to be. 
     During my 2 month stint of sleeping in and not having much to do but go to the gym and watch tv, I reached out to the recreation ministry at my church. I got a response quickly to set up a time to meet and talk with the recreation head. 1.5 months later, the Lord continues to work out the good for those who love him (Romans 8:28) and I have begun a sports/recreation ministry internship with them. I walked in on my first day and went right into meetings and learning from a fire hydrant and let me tell you, I wanted to cry tears of joy because I knew that was exactly where I was supposed to be and exactly what I want to do with my life.
    My past few months would not have been so great if I would have sat on my hind-end and done absolutely nothing to get the ball rolling or find community but they also wouldn't have been as great if I didn't have people reaching out to me and constantly inviting me to be apart of their lives. If you are new to an area or even a community within the community you grew up in, dive in. Don't do life alone. And if you are well-known in your community then see those new faces or lonely faces and bring them in because post-college is hard. 
   As a recent college grad, leaving that community and the people I knew was hard. Having God shut the doors that would lead me back to that community was hard. But faithfully obeying and being present and letting God work is beyond rewarding. My turn around was fairly quick, and I understand that won't always be the case, but he is faithful and good and knows what's for our best- and that WILL always be the case.

     So to sum it up, reach out and don't be afraid to say yes to even the unknown, be willing to get your foot in the door somewhere because you don't know where it might lead to, find good and uplifting community (especially by getting plugged into a church by serving or small groups), and always always always seek the Lord first.

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