14 Life Tips Every Recent Grad Need to Have in Their Back Pocket

Be passionate about something

Graduating from college is one of the most momentous occasions of your life, but it can also be very surreal and scary. All of a sudden, you don’t have a set schedule that’s been planned out for you and it’s up to you to determine what to do with your life from here on out. But before you can land a job, there’s something more important you have to nail down first, and that is figuring out what makes you tick. “One thing that’s really important is to find a job that you’re passionate about and actually enjoy,” says Hanmei Wu, co-founder and COO of Synocate, a company that helps prep students for college and beyond. “A lot of people may take a job because it’s the first offer they get, the company has a good brand-name, or it pays a lot, but you’re not really going to gain that much out of it,” if those are your sole criteria. Once you identify what it is you’re passionate about, you’re one step closer to creating a path for yourself to follow.