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Graduating from high school. Getting married. Buying your first home. Starting a family.

Transitions can be stressful as well as exciting. Even though some people try their hardest to resist change out of fear, in some cases it鈥檚 inevitable—staying in college forever just because you鈥檙e a bit scared of what鈥檚 to come isn鈥檛 a realistic option!

Although it鈥檚 improving, the current job market is still less than ideal. Stories and reports about college graduates forced to become servers or bartenders due to a lack of jobs are plentiful, but in reality statistics have that the unemployment rate among people with bachelor鈥檚 degrees is considerably lower than it is for high school graduates.

Whether or not you land your dream job shortly after earning your college degree, there are plenty of changes in store. Getting out of the crowded, smelly dorms and never needing to set foot inside a lecture hall again—for now, anyway—might seem like the best news you鈥檝e heard all day, but it鈥檚 a good idea to realize that some of the adjustments you鈥檒l have to make in the upcoming months might be tougher to deal with than others:

1. Moving out on your own can wipe out your graduation cash.

If you鈥檙e able to get an apartment or rental home, congratulations! Moving out on your own can be exhilarating, even if your first place is cramped and crowded. Moving out can also put a serious dent in your savings account. You will most likely have to pay a security deposit along with your first month鈥檚 rent, and lease preparation fees are fairly common, too. Getting the water, electricity and gas turned on involves more than calling up the utility companies and asking nicely. You may be required to submit a deposit along with your request, which can be several hundred dollars—each.

2. Moving back in with your parents can be a blow to your self-esteem.

If you decide to live with your parents after graduation—even temporarily—you鈥檒l most likely save a considerable amount of money. You may also need to take your own ego down a peg or two, because eating Mom鈥檚 cooking and sleeping in your old bedroom every night might make you feel like a little kid. If you and your parents set some boundaries from the beginning, the experience might go a bit smoother.

3. The 鈥渞eal world鈥� is expensive!

Rent and utilities aside, life itself isn鈥檛 cheap. Buying and maintaining a reliable automobile, paying for car insurance, filling the car with gas to get to and from work…the list goes on and on. Those campus shuttle busses might not seem so bad anymore!

4. Your first job might be completely different than you imagined it.

After spending four or more years studying and preparing for your future career, you probably had a good idea of what the profession would be like—especially if you did an internship or two during college. The truth is, things may not be as rosy and you had hoped. Textbooks don鈥檛 let you experience the wrath of an angry boss firsthand, nor do they compare to dealing with jealous or lazy colleagues.

5. Spending 15 hours a week in class will seem like nothing compared to working 40.

鈥淚鈥檓 too busy!鈥� is a common excuse among college students, but have found that most students don鈥檛 do a lot of reading, writing and studying—at least not as much as they鈥檇 like you to believe. Once you secure full-time employment, you鈥檒l be expected to work 40 or more hours per week, and it will be tough to unwind after work or on the weekends because you鈥檙e still thinking about projects and assignments that you鈥檙e working on in the office.

6. Your social circle will no longer be comprised of people your own age.

It鈥檚 fairly easy to make friends during college. After all, campuses are full of young adults who share common goals and interests. When you get a job, you鈥檒l be interacting with people of all ages. Going to lunch with co-workers in their forties or fifties might not sound like your idea of fun, but you鈥檒l be able to learn from their experiences. A mentor is a valuable resource, whatever your profession.

7. Wearing yoga pants and flip flops every single day is no longer acceptable.

The joke is that college students show up for class in their pajamas. While it may happen every now and then, most students don鈥檛 dress up even when they do wear 鈥渞eal鈥� clothes. Unless your new place of employment has a required uniform or an incredibly lax dress code, you will have to dress professionally. (And back to the real world being pricy—if you didn鈥檛 already own a work-worthy wardrobe, you鈥檒l have to spend a bit on clothes.

8. There鈥檚 a good chance you鈥檒l be too tired to go out drinking.

College nights and weekend parties were fun, but just imagine how much fun you鈥檒l be able to have when you never have to study for tests or wake up for class 鈥� right? Maybe 鈥� if you weren鈥檛 so darned tired from working all week long.

9. Missing work is a much bigger deal than missing class.

When you鈥檙e accustomed to spring break, summer vacation, Thanksgiving break and a month off a Christmastime 鈥� a 鈥渞egular鈥� schedule will be a bit of a shocker. And if you feel like calling in sick on those days that you just don鈥檛 feel like going, you鈥檒l have to remind yourself that new hires often receive just one or two weeks of paid time off each year.

10. Your performance will no longer be evaluated by grades.

Even if yours weren鈥檛 the greatest or you didn鈥檛 believe that they were a true indicator of your knowledge, you could always count on getting grades in school. Performance reviews do happen once in a while in most workplaces, but you will no longer receive a piece of paper every few weeks to let you know how you鈥檙e doing.

11. Reputation matters.

Drinking so much that you forgot what you did that night, only to wind up tagged in your friends鈥� somewhat risque Facebook photos the next morning might have been embarrassing, but it could do a lot more harm now that you鈥檙e a working professional. If you wind up becoming known as 鈥渢he one who always shows up late鈥� or 鈥渢he one who always kisses up to the boss鈥� or something even worse around the office, you might not be very popular with your coworkers.

12. Small goals are just as important as big ones.

During college, the light at the end of the tunnel was graduation—finally earning that degree and getting out of school! Your goals will undoubtedly change once you鈥檙e finished with school, but it鈥檚 important to realize that the small ones are just as important as the big ones. Signing a big client or acing a company presentation can lead to bigger and better things like promotions and pay increases. Don鈥檛 miss the forest for the trees.

Graduating from college can be nearly as nerve-wracking as it is exciting. Your mind may be swirling with dozens of questions. Where will you live? Where will you work? How will you afford everything that you need? If you realize now that there are plenty of changes in store and some are better than others, you鈥檙e already a step ahead.

Posted on 4 May

Melissa Rhone earned her Bachelor of Music in Education from the University of Tampa. She resides in the Tampa Bay area and enjoys writing about college, pop culture, and epilepsy awareness.