You know why I chose this cheesy light bulb picture? Because 2019 is the year of realizing things, that’s why.
I started work on August 17, 2017 so it's been exactly 527 days since I joined the real world... hold the applause.
Here are some of the life things that nobody tells you that I am just going to blow the LID on for you guys:
1. Taxes. They are literally due every year on the same fucking date: April 15 (I recently found this one out, and by recently I truly do mean day 510). Maybe this is specific to consultants who travel to different places for work, but it is a pain in the ass to have to file in different states, so start early. Turbotax is our friend, guys. We may or may not have created this blog during taxes season because we got so frustrated and confused and no one wanted to help us but OUR PARENTS SHOUT OUT to them.
2. Car stuff. If you move to a new state to live and work, eventually you are going to have to get a new license because you can't register your car there without that state's license. Okay, that's all I know because I haven't followed any of these steps. Texas forever!
3. Having a bathtub is underrated. It's self care 2018 and I still don't have a bathtub to soak myself in and buy fun little bath bombs for. Showers are lame! You have to stand up the whole time. That said, please do not take baths in hotels. That's all I have to say on the matter, I will not be taking any questions at this time.
4. Voting. Now, this is very important. You need to vote in YOUR district, or you need to fill out an application for ballot by mail and get it approved by your district's elections administrator and THEN once you receive the ballot submit it in time. Do it for the democracy, and do it for the I Voted sticker. It is the educated adult person's version of a gold star, don't argue with me.
5. We all know that LinkedIn is the new Facebook. When one of my friends tells me that she's going on a date with so-and-so, I fire up my computer and go STRAIGHT to LinkedIn and find his ass. I genuinely do feel safer letting you go to a beer garden with him if he's at least a third-degree connection. Former philanthropy chair of Sigma Chi? Sounds like a gem. But this act of friendship is not possible if you have your LinkedIn settings as it is on default, which allows people to see if you were creeping on their profile! So everyone go change or make sure that your settings are so that your name and details are not visible when you creep for your team. Stay woke.
6. No one may know what you do all day and that is new and scary and weird but it's okay. Do you miss the group texts? "Where is everyone" and "Who wants to get bread & co" lighting up your phone. We have each other on Find My Friends and we're happiest when all our dots are together. But now that we're in the big bad real world - unless you're in grad school - more likely than not you'll find that no one really has a pulse on what you do day in and day out. And that feels a little sad, but it doesn't have to be. Maybe it's freeing that you make your own rules, and that you have the quiet to listen to your heart. And doing things on your own certainly doesn't mean that you're alone.
7. Mental health is not a juvenile issue. And I mean that in every sense of the word. Depression and anxiety - among many others - does not go away because you are a "real person" now and don't have to deal with college culture, and it is even more important now that you are in less proximity to those people (your parents, your best friends, your professors) who would check on you to make sure you're prioritizing this. In fact, I take issue with mental health services going over the cliff once you graduate, when moving to a new city, finding your way outside the structure and community of school, navigating the real world, and trying to be financially independent - those challenges are all arguably just as daunting, if not way more, than the ones you face in school with every resource at your beck and call. Don't take any chances here with your mental health. Ask someone you trust in the area if they know of a good therapist. Start finding hobbies for yourself outside of work, whether it's going on walks or joining an intramural kickball league or taking up embroidery. And know that you are going to have good days and bad days and that doesn't have anything to do with who you are, and the progress you're making. You're doing great, sweetie.
8. And because light bulbs. I do not CARE if you are a cis white male somehow on this page (hi Josh!) and you have spent the last 4+ years in a dingy dorm room with the only decor being a poster of bikini butts on your wall. I cannot stress enough how much a string of Christmas lights can really up your living room or bedroom vibes. And I am looking at you, NYC folks who don’t have the square foot for a lamp. Buy some command hooks and a few strings of these bad boys and you can make a room seem so much cozier and warmer. Thank me later.
What advice would you give your 22-year old self?
Wear your retainer? Call your mom every week? Put important birthdays on your Google calendar so you don’t forget to call and feel like an asshole when you notice people wrote all over your bestie’s Facebook wall four days ago? Buy Bitcoin? Download Headspace? Don’t get addicted to Tate’s Bake Shop cookies?