How to Grad & Beyond with Betul

Starting life as an employee for the first time after school is one of the hardest transitions in life. It is the first time we leave a lifestyle where our future is decided for us, along with what is needed for that future, for an undetermined future with undetermined tasks to achieve it. 

Imagine this. You start school for the first time at age 6, grade 1. Your next 16 years (at minimum) are set for you: elementary school, then middle school, then high school, then college (then Master’s, then PhD if you go to grad school).  Everyone goes through the same steps and no one gets kicked out (unless something major happens or they choose to drop out). 

Not only that, but what you need to achieve to go through these set steps are also largely clear: for example, take X points in X exam and you go to X school. There are unclarities at times in that expectations might change based on years or locations, however, they are largely stable, especially in comparison to what happens after school. 

Now you finished all schooling and got into work force. You are an employee for the first time. The first change is that your future is now entirely in your hands. You will make the decision to stay in one job for the rest of your life or change jobs/careers every 5 years by yourself. That is challenging enough. But there is worse: even if you make the decision to stay in a job for a long time, that may not work out due to external reasons such as layoffs. 

Not only that, but you also need to decide how to achieve the career path you determined for yourself. You are the main decision maker for which projects to take on, which people to connect with etc. There are few guidelines that are truly followed when it comes to these kinds of decisions in work life. 

Overall, it is truly scary to go from the security the school system gives us to the huge uncertainty that comes with work life and we are rarely trained to handle it. We should acknowledge how big of a transition it is, as well as how challenging and give ourselves credit and time for adaptation. Only when we do this do we get the ability to enjoy the freedom it also brings. Because that freedom is liberating if given the chance.