Hey, Everyone: It’s Okay To Graduate Late. Trust Me.

People younger than you are getting their degrees and you can’t help but feel sad inside because you still haven’t had the chance to finish your own degree. Whether the delay be money, kids, work schedules, or simply not knowing what you wanted to commit to for years and study, in your head you are “behind.”

The reality, my friend, is that you are not behind. This idea that a person graduates at 18, knows exactly what they want to do for the next 50 years, have the ability to pay for college within three months, and then go graduate is complete bullllllshit. This routine is not realistic for many people, and guess what? That IS okay. Here’s a list to remind you beautiful souls why graduating “late” is actually great!

1. You will be older.

This is obvious, but, it’s true. Here’s what comes with being older…experience! Maybe the experience won’t be the ideal “in the job related field,” but other life experiences go a long way. While a younger person who graduated at the tender age of 22 may have the paper qualifications for a position, they may not have any fucking common sense or real life experiences (just simply because perhaps they haven’t had to endure all the different avenues of life just yet) whereas you pop in at 25, 26, 27 or later with a plethora of knowledge and you blow away the chump interviewing you. Remember, you do nothing more but sell yourself during an interview. You got this.

2. You have confidence.

Now, this isn’t to say that people who are younger than you lack confidence, they don’t, but the truth is, confidence is something that is built over time and takes getting to know yourself. It’s just evident- the longer you are alive, the longer you get to know yourself and therefore begin to love yourself and appreciate who you are. By this age you have figured out who you do and don’t want in your personal circles and you’ve more than likely learned how to say “no” to things that you truly don’t give a shit about wasting your time with. You’re a rock star.

3. You are… More than likely already a parent, already moved out of your parent’s home, or already worked elsewhere full time.

Any of these will make you relatable to the person who wants to consider hiring you. At 22, 23 many times these young adults are great, they were ambitious and were privileged enough to have the opportunity to go to school and get exactly what they wanted done, but sometimes, transition is tough and they still reside at home. This could be fine, but think about it, are they really going to rely upon this job and put their 200% in when they have in the back of their mind that someone else is going to be taking care of them if needed? Here’s where you come in- you either have kids, have rent, or are already accustomed to making work first if you’ve done full time before. You understand responsibility on another level, you don’t just want this job but you actually do need it in order to maintain your current responsible lifestyle of relying upon yourself, and because you are used to full time maybe, you don’t have to do much transitioning into “work first” life style.

4. You are probably in a long-term relationship.

And here’s why this is a great thing. How many times have you been at a job or workplace and witnessed another co-worker going through drama, heartbreak, or a continuous break-up? Although we may be sympathetic and sad, it gets rather bothersome during working hours. I mean, you have shit to do and now someone you sort of care about is crying their eyes out. You gotta stop and worry and ask if their okay. Or if you’re an asshole, you act as if you have no idea what’s going on, but either way it gets old. The only thing worse than having to console someone is being the damn person to console! But- if you’re the person in the long term relationship that is one less drama/problem that you would have to deal with during work/distracting you from work. You’re focused and ready for this job to give it all you got! Then, you can go home and be in PJs with your lover and eat Chipotle. Yum.

5. You know how to say ‘No’.

When you’re fresh out of college at the age of 22, 23, or whatever, sometimes you don’t know any better and the first offer you receive is the one you commit to. You think, I’ll work my way up and I’ll be the next person in line and whatnot. But, someone who’s been around a little longer may have developed the ability to say no when a job is offered but not realistic or fitting to their lifestyle. Just because it’s offered to you, doesn’t mean it’s right for you.

Younger adults aren’t always all this naïve and unaware, I’m just pointing out they may be desperate to move out, ready to just start something, ANYTHING, so they may take on opportunities and miss the better ones. You, however, are seasoned at knowing what you really want and need and have no issue weeding out the not so great offers. You know you’re waiting for better because it took you longer to get your degree and that just shows how dedicated you truly are. You didn’t give up, you went to college on your own terms/time.