For myself and many other FIT students, the next few months are going to be a whirlwind of emotions and to-do lists. Graduation, the next milestone in life, is in May at we are all freaking out extremely excited. Like other milestones in life, graduation can bring with it a lot of stress.

Here’s some advice I think is really good for keeping me calm as we near the day of cap tossing…

Explore different career and graduate school options and to utilize campus resources preparing students for graduation and a future career. Even if you might not have realized all the resources available to you.

Assess what’s important to you –  including skills, interests and values. Learn about or to research different careers so that you are making informed decisions about things that might be a good fit for those skills and interests.

Time management is crucial. Write a pre-graduation to-do list and start working on different tasks gradually, then check them off. The first step is to register for graduation (and know deadlines in general), and the next tasks all depends on your goal. Just remember to not overwhelm yourself with all these expectations at once. Think of what you want to do most and what would be best for you, not what everyone else expects.

At the same time, be realistic. Of course you need to find some way to support yourself after college, so start considering your options now and plan ahead. You might not get your dream job right away, and that’s OK!