Life in the Post-College World

[ 8 ] November 22, 2011 AD |
One of the things I have realized this past year is that the transition period from college to adult life is one of life’s toughest adjustments.

For me, a difficult aspect of adult life has been the absence of time-defined phases.  Previously, all of my life had been split up into different phases by school.  Each year I entered a new grade with a set time limit.  High school and college were both seen as four-year phases with set goals and plans.  Then comes college graduation with no set plan after graduation.  Some go to grad school or law school, some do a year of service, while others try to find a job and pay back their loans for their hard-earned education. There is no life plan where you work one job for a year, another for two years and then find your perfect job and get married in five years.  Now, everybody has to find their own path which is both exciting and daunting.

Another adjustment me for has been finding solid community in the adult life.  In college, my best friends lived down the hall and I would go talk or hang out with them whenever I wanted.  However, I moved away from my college town and now am establishing myself back in Pittsburgh  Now, if I want to see someone we need to use a few texts or phone calls to coordinate times when we are both available to meet, which are certainly less frequent than they had been in college.  In addition, there is no established group of 20s adults who share my values and interests.

This is especially challenging in regards to faith.  At college, I frequently saw many of my peers at daily Mass.  Now, I am usually the youngest person at daily Mass by at least twenty years.  Where are the young adults in our churches?  They seem to be the overlooked group.  We have CCD, high school youth group, marriage support groups and maybe adult education classes, which usually attract the more seasoned Catholics, but almost nothing for young adults, a point I believe that other contributors have touched on in the past.

With the challenges of finding my own path and making new friends I find that the best way to grow is to cling to Jesus.  After all, he is constant no matter what is changing around me.  I find that daily quiet time in prayer with Him helps me adjust to this new stage of life and also begin to see the plan God has for my life.  With Christ at the center, I know that I am adequately prepared to face the challenges of living my faith as a young adult.

(How have you adjusted to the post-college world? I’d be interested in any ideas you may have on young adult ministry and adjusting to life after college.)

Category: Life

About the Author ()

Bob Waruszewski is a cradle Catholic from Pittsburgh, PA. He recently graduated from St. Vincent College with a bachelor’s degree in both mathematics and economics. Currently he works for a natural gas distribution company in the Steel City and is enjoying his first days as a married man. In his free time he enjoys sports, hiking, reading and chess. His favorite Saint is St. Joseph.
  • http://virtuouspla.net/ Anna Williams

    I can sympathize! I just graduated from college as well and have had similar difficulties. A couple tips on Catholic young adult groups: sometimes they’re through the diocese (like Theology on Tap usually is) rather than the individual parish. If you’re in a major urban area (DC/northern VA, NYC, LA, Denver, Dallas, etc), there are probably many such groups, even if there are none specifically in your church. And if there’s not one in your parish OR your diocese, you could always start one! Talk to the pastor; I bet he’d help you get an ad/inquiry in the bulletin, at least, to get things rolling.

  • richard

    My post-college world was swim or sink.

  • http://www.whyimcatholic.com Steven Lawson

    One thing I’ve seen young adults struggle with after leaving school is being thrown into a world much different from the one they had in college. I’ve seen this with peers who went to very orthodox Catholic schools and after leaving really struggle adjusting to a world that doesn’t encourage the faith. The danger is then either shrinking back and not being involved in the world (forming one’s own little ghetto) or to not pursue the faith as strongly because of the new resistance.

  • Bob Waruszewski

    Thanks for the tips. I certainly have begun organizing some local and diocesan young adult activities in the Pittsburgh area. One thing that has puzzled me is that since Pittsburgh is so close to Franciscan University, one would think that many of its graduates may work in Pittsburgh and possibly get involved in Young Adult Ministry there, though this has been few and far between.

  • http://virtuouspla.net/ Nathaniel Gotcher

    I see this even in studying abroad as I am doing this year. Especially though because I am in a country where next to no one is fluent in my language. I have my classmates, but they are not necessarily the company I would seek out if I had a choice. I think this will probably prepare me better than a lot of things for the after college experience.

    At least I hope it will.

  • DMJSD

    Look for a local Spirit & Truth young adult (18-40) adoration community (http://www.sandt.org/) or set one up yourself!

  • http://www.thecatholiccouponer.com Beth Anne

    I have struggled with this for almost 3 years since I graduated. My biggest problem is 1) A lot of the young adult groups are usually over 30 minutes to an hour from where I live and 2) I’ve always been unemployed or working jobs where I only make minimum wage (even though I have a college degree) and a lot of the people who attend theology on tap and other young adult things make good money and live on their own (I still live at home).

    My biggest thing is I want to get married and have kids one day but to do this I need to meet someone. So I have no idea where/when that will happen. The other issue I have found with these groups is a lot of the people are married and married people are fine but it gets old after awhile single people hanging out with married people. My 3rd issue is the people in the groups are either WAY too serious about their faith or WAY too lax (and just want to socialize and drink all the time).

    This is an on going issue and a lot of the churches are aware that they need to do something for this age group but no one knows how to approach it or what to do about it.

  • Phil

    I’m trying to help start a group for the southern region of the diocese of Wilmington, DE. I would love any advice you all can lend. Beth I hope we can find a good balance between faith and socializing.

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