What Nobody Prepares you for in Life After College

Scrolling through Instagram, you might think everyone has life after college all figured out. Engagement announcements, new jobs, grad school acceptances, and travel adventures fill your feed, and it can be hard not to compare your journey to everyone else’s. What I’ve learned is that this season of life is exciting, but also unexpectedly challenging, and nobody really prepares you for that.

Here are five of the biggest things I wish someone had told me about navigating life after college and how to move through them with a little more ease:

1. Everyone goes different ways for the first time in your life after college

Throughout the first part of our lives, most people are on the same timeline. You go from grade to grade together, maybe graduating at slightly different times, but still on a pretty similar path. After graduation, that disappears. Some friends move home to save money, some dive into big-city corporate jobs, others start grad school, and a few even get married or travel the world. It’s the first time in your life where paths really split, and it can feel disorienting. It’s all too easy to fall into the comparison trap, wondering why you haven’t gotten engaged, spent a month in Bali, or moved to a big shiny city yet.

Social media makes this even harder. Being constantly inundated with everyone else’s milestones can make it nearly impossible to focus on the only journey that matters: your own. Don’t feel bad if you catch yourself comparing- it’s normal. But it’s also not helpful. I wish I had learned more quickly to pour that energy into self-discovery and exploring the choices that felt right to me. Once I did, it became much clearer what my path should look like, regardless of what my peers were doing.

Navigation tips:

• Limit your daily scroll if you find yourself constantly comparing. Sometimes even a small boundary (like not checking Instagram until after work, or deleting the app from your phone 2-3 days a week) can change how you feel.

• Remember: just because someone else is “ahead” in one area doesn’t mean you’re behind in life. Use the mental image of all of us being on not only different roads, but different maps! The correct "next turn" for someone else might be totally wrong for you and getting to your desired destination.

• If you catch yourself comparing, lean into curiosity about your own path instead of judgment about someone else’s.

  
  

Reflection question: In what ways might I be living for others, and how can I start to lean instead into the activities and next steps that bring joy to myself?

2. Optics are everything (but also misleading)

One of the biggest shocks for me in life after college was realizing how much value people place on how hard it seems you’re working, not necessarily the quality of the work itself. In corporate America, staying late, sending emails at all hours, and talking about being “so busy and exhausted” were treated like badges of honor. At first, I thought that’s what success had to look like, so I pushed myself to keep up. But eventually, I realized that long hours and exhaustion don’t necessarily lead to impact or fulfillment.

A friend of mine at a top med school told me he sees the same thing; students focus on impressing supervising doctors above all else, often at the expense of their own learning or well-being. That conversation hit me hard, because it confirmed this isn’t just a corporate problem; it’s cultural. And it’s part of why I started Pink & Powerful- I wanted to create something that mattered to me, not just something that looked good on paper.

Navigation tips:

• When you are slammed with work, don’t hide it. I used to let my team know if I was juggling multiple deadlines, and it actually built my reputation as someone who could handle pressure. That way, I didn’t feel the need to “pretend” every single day.

• You don’t need to perform 24/7. Often, a few standout “big moments” stick with people far longer than daily grind theater. For me, one of my "shining moments" involved replying to an assignment email at 6 a.m. and turning it around within a few hours. This left a bigger impression than weeks of staying late at the office, and lasted for months.

• Ask yourself: How much does it actually matter to me what the people around me think? The answer will help you decide when optics are worth leaning into, and when they’re not. The reality is, sometimes it might make your life easier to play the game and get the kudos from your boss, and sometimes it's worth it to just go home and prioritize self care.

  
  

Reflection question: What does being successful mean to me in this season of life?

3. Friendships change in ways you don’t expect

In college, you’re used to seeing your friends every day. Suddenly, in life after college, friendships look very different. People move away, start relationships, work demanding jobs, or simply grow in new directions. You might only see certain friends a couple times a year, and sometimes you outgrow relationships you once thought would last forever. It’s not because you don’t care about them anymore. It's just that people change rapidly in their 20's.

I had to learn that outgrowing friendships doesn’t mean you’ve failed or are a bad friend. It simply means your paths no longer align the way they once did, and that’s just a part of adulthood.

Navigation tips:

• Prioritize the friendships that feel reciprocal and energizing. Even one or two aligned friendships can feel richer than a large group.

• Schedule intentional check-ins. I started doing monthly FaceTimes or sending voice notes to long-distance friends, which helped keep those connections alive.

• Release the guilt when friendships naturally drift. It doesn’t erase the importance they had in your life. I love the concept that people are in your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Friendships that only last for certain seasons doesn't make them less meaningful or important; they served your life when you needed them most, and helped you get to the next part of your journey.

  
  

Reflection question: Which friendships feel most aligned with the person I’m becoming, and how can I invest in those?

4. You’ll have a “wake-up” moment- and that’s normal

Almost everyone I know has had a point in their twenties where they stop and think: Am I even on the right path? I had that moment myself after realizing my Finance career wasn’t aligned with who I wanted to be. I started questioning every choice I’d made up until that point, and while it was overwhelming, it was also the start of me finding my real direction. As it turns out, I'd much rather be a personal trainer than study financial markets (quite the pivot!)

It’s normal to feel like you’re “behind” or that you’ve made the wrong choices. Instead of pretending you’re fine and ignoring those feelings, lean into them. Allow room for self-discovery, pivoting, and exploring new paths as you grow and change in your 20's. Reframe viewing your past as "wrong decisions" and instead view it as necessary experiences that have lead you to where you are today- and now you get to choose what comes next.

Navigation tips:

• Don’t spiral into regret. Instead, reframe it: discovering what you don’t want is just as valuable as finding what you do.

• Talk it out with someone you trust. Often saying your doubts out loud makes them feel less heavy, and chances are, your peers all feel a similar type of way.

• Break it down into one small action: what’s one aligned step you can take this week toward a life that feels better?

  
  

Reflection question: If I gave myself full permission to pivot my career or life, what would I try next?

5. Your twenties might be harder than you expect, but they don’t have to break you

One thing I’ve noticed is that everyone older than me says their twenties were the hardest decade of their life. While it's comforting to know you’re not alone, it also makes me wonder why nobody talks about it ahead of time. Personally, I don’t think your twenties have to be only about struggle.

For me, creating Pink & Powerful has been a way to take ownership of my journey, following passions, building community, and choosing alignment over comparison. Life after college might be hard, but it can also be magical and exciting if you let it.

Navigation tips:

• Create anchors in your routine that remind you of who you are outside of work or comparison: journaling, exercise, a hobby, or a weekly ritual with your girlfriends.

• Find community. Surrounding yourself with people who are also figuring things out makes the struggles feel lighter. This is a huge reason for why I started Pink & Powerful and my group coaching program, 77 Aligned,

• Remember that your twenties are not about getting everything right- it's quite the opposite. These years are about trying as many things as you can, failing, pivoting, and not giving up as your start to build the life of your dreams.

  
  

Reflection question: What practices or communities help me feel most grounded when everything else feels uncertain?

Final Thoughts

Life after college is a season of contrasts: freedom and uncertainty, excitement and confusion, growth and grief. You’ll watch friends go in every direction, wrestle with what’s “supposed” to look good versus what actually feels good, and sometimes question everything you thought you wanted. But it's also the start of realizing you have the power to create the life you most want.

Nobody fully prepares you for it, but maybe that’s the point. Because this season is about trial and error and writing your own story. My own journey and navigating uncertainty has already lead me to some beautiful places, such as creating Pink & Powerful: a space for women to navigate this hard season together, cheer each other on, and remember that even in the midst of uncertainty and chaos, we are not alone.

Learn more about Pink & Powerful