There are a lot of things that I didn't realize/didn't even think about until after I graduated from college. Rexburg is sort of a bubble, not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it makes you forget how life can be when you live somewhere else. I miss it a lot of the time, mostly because of all the friends and fun times I had there. But here a just a few things I don't think I was really mentally prepared for when I left the 'burg;
Job hunting is hard.
After moving to Salt Lake this Summer I was working part-time and looking for a professional job in my field, which was a daunting task for me. I've done PLENTY of job hunting in my day, but in the past that always involved filling out application after application, spending hours online answering questionnaires, and making visits to places that didn't care if you had submitted your application a week ago, they were going to file it away for the next 6 months even if they said they were hiring that week. With the exception of my internship I completed last Summer, I had only tried for entry level jobs because of my lack of professional experience. But now I was a big kid, ready to take on the professional design world and all it had to offer! Every day I searched online job posting sites looking for something - anything really - remotely related to interior design. I sent out copy after copy of my resume, writing and re-writing cover letters, hoping and praying that someone would take an inexperienced kid like me and be willing to teach me all I needed to know. As you well know, the job hunting did end up paying off. But that was not without a lot of work, stress, and a good dose of prayers.
Real life is expensive!
As a college student, I thought I knew how expensive it was to live on my own. After all, I was paying for my own rent, food, and any other incidentals that came up. So living on my own outside of my little college town would be the same, right? Not so much. What I didn't even consider was that I was renting an apartment that was "school approved housing," meaning that basically the living expenses, utilities, insurance, etc. had already been rolled into one price and all I had to do was pay for the semester and everything was taken care of. The price they gave you was the price you paid. While hunting for post-college living accommodations, I looked at rent prices and figured, "Yeah, I think my roommate and I can handle that." I didn't even pause to think about the fact that utilities, power, and renter's insurance weren't included in that cost. Not to mention that most apartments do not come furnished and I owned no furniture to speak of, so that would have to be another added cost. My roommate Kelley and I slept on air mattresses for a month or two right at the beginning, and our furniture consisted of a hand-me-down futon, two folding chairs and various boxes in place of tables. Living the high life!
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| One of the times we actually left the apartment and went to Temple Square. :) |
You may become a hermit.
Yes, I had decided to move to Salt Lake, a place I had never really lived. But, I figured I knew a few people in the valley so maybe I'd still have a social life. But the thing is, even if you know someone who lives "in the valley," that could mean that they are anywhere between 5 and 30 minutes away. And when you're really poor, that's a LOT in gas money that you won't want to spend! Not to mention that I don't know hardly any fun things to do in the city that don't involve money. So, for most of the Summer I became a hermit. Kelley and I would sit in our apartment and read books and eat fast food and stare at each other with weird faces much of the time, simply because we didn't know of anything else to do. Leaving our little college town meant leaving behind lots of friends and pretty much our entire social scene. If we wanted to do something we had to go out and find it...but that requires effort and we tended to be lazy (I still am actually, not much has changed).
Things stay A LOT cleaner with just two roommates instead of four or six.
It's amazing how much of a difference it makes to only have two people living in an apartment. When you clean it it actually stays clean for a while! When you don't have a bunch of roommates coming in and out of your apartment, having friends over, or cooking and leaving dishes behind, it can actually be tidy. And another thing; toilet paper lasts FOREVER. After living with either 3 or 5 other girls for the past four years, I have begun to appreciate the fact that nobody has to buy a 12-pack of TP every week. Ah, it's the little things.
So there you have it, just a few random thoughts about post-college life. But for any of you who are almost to that stage in your life, have no fear, jump in with both feet, and have fun with it! Make the most of what you've got even if it is just an air mattress and boxes. It's going to be hard, but it will still be WORTH IT.
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