How is Graduation Like Tire Maintenance?
If the title made you think this was a riddle, then make your guess quickly because the answer is coming next.
The answer: both cause problems if they have too much pressure.
Why Are We Even Talking About Pressure at Graduation Time?
Even though graduation is supposed to be a time of joy and relief, many graduates feel like their career path is being scrutinized under a microscope. When well-wishers congratulate them, this is then followed up with a question about the graduate’s next steps. The intent is often a kind-hearted effort to show interest in the graduate and to simply make conversation. For the graduate, however, it is difficult to respond by admitting they have no idea what they will do next. It is even more difficult if they are thinking about any job rejections they have already accrued.
Even though a degree does not guarantee an immediate ideal job, that reality is not always talked about in school. Graduates can think there is a problem if they do not get one of the first ten jobs they apply for.
Sometimes external pressure for immediate success is real. When families have been pushing a student to challenge themselves for so long, it is hard to stop. Graduation is also a time when many seem to feel they have the greenlight to give career advice. Even if the advice-giver has not demonstrated skill in carving out their own career path, they have wisdom they are ready to impart on anyone in transition.
If you are not the one graduating, it can help to take a pause and think about what you would like to hear if you were in the graduate’s shoes. If you are the one graduating, figure out what you can do to reduce your own pressure.
What is the Solution?
When a graduate or a tire has too much pressure, the solution is to let some air out. So, if you are graduating and feeling the pressure, exhale. You are graduating. That is a big deal. If you do not dial back the pressure now, then ask yourself when.
Learn From Your High School Graduation
When you graduated from high school, it might have seemed like everyone had it all figured out except for you. Many reported definite plans, but they later realized that part of adulting is being able to change their minds. They might have started at the college of their choice and then realized that they no longer agreed with those choices. Instead of a one-size-fits-all plan, former classmates found their niche by transferring to different schools, changing majors, stopping college, working, joining the military, or getting vocational certificates. They learned to listen to their own gut and do what energizes them.
How Do You Release Some of that Pressure?
It is not possible to stop the world from asking about your plans for life after graduation. There are articles on that already. We cannot stop people from having a natural curiosity about your life. It is just hard to gauge when the genuine interest of others is starting to drift into the pestering life-coach category.
If you can take the pressure off of yourself, this will help you to set limits with anyone else who is pressuring you. It will also help you to not interpret all questions as being judgments. Sometimes they are just trying to show some interest.
Take control of the timer. If you set a timer for when you need to have your career path all figured out, then you also can adjust it. If others set the timer, then take back control of it. It is your life. Be intentional about taking your time.
If the ones pressuring you are the ones funding you, then they do have a valid point about expecting you to work. However, many people do not go straight into their ideal job right after graduation. Some find ways to live very cheaply and work jobs completely unrelated to their field for a while as they catch their breath from all of the academic work.
If you worry about how it will look on a job application when you have a degree in engineering and you are working in a completely unrelated field, then explain it in your cover letter.
Tell people you are taking the measured start-up approach to your career. This conveys that you are being thoughtful and deliberate about it and you are doing it your way. If they argue, explain that it is like adding air to a tire. When you take the gradual, deliberate approach, you keep from overinflating it and popping it. Likewise, at this time of transition, you are trying to release some of the air in the tire gradually, not by tearing off the tire stem.
The Takeaway
Graduation is a time to start taking care of yourself as well as you would take care of your car. If anyone ever insisted on overinflating your car tires, you would say something. If they wanted to tear off the tire stem and let the air rush out, you would say something. Find that optimal level of pressure that yields optimal functioning and do what you need to in order to stay in that range.
