With only one semester left until graduation, I feel that I have to begin the process of becoming an adult.

The problem is that I have become so used to being a college student and the stresses that go along with the lifestyle that it makes me nervous to think about life after college.

The nagging deadline of an important, unnecessarily long paper. The looming threat of a make or break final or the group work that only a few members worked on. All these stresses and pressures are nothing new to the college student. It is something that I have become used to.

These stresses to perform well are an essential part of the college experience.

Unfortunately this lifestyle is one that I have become accustomed to with two or three classes everyday including homework, group work and tests and finals.

I have come to terms and have committed to getting this bachelor’s degree, not for my parents, because they really want me, to but for myself. I want to better my own future.

As a senior in college, now is more important than ever to start planning my life after getting my college degree.

But I can’t avoid the nagging questions in my head.

Where am I going to live after college? Where do I apply for jobs? Will I enjoy my life with this full time job? The list goes on.

The point is that a drastic change is about to happen that will affect me in the coming months, and I will need to make some important life decisions.

This thought is both liberating and terrifying at the same time.

Liberating because I feel that I have made the choice to finish school and I know that it will help me become an independent person both physically and financially.

Terrifying for the fact that as of now, I have no clue what my life will be life after I accomplish my goal of obtaining this degree.

It is unnerving and exciting to not know what my immediate future holds. I am also somewhat comforted in the fact that I am not the only person in this situation.

My entire graduating class has similar issues, and not just at Chaminade or here in Hawaii but across the country of America.

We are being educated and placed into a world that is highly competitive, making our futures even more uncertain.

I have been in school for such a long time that the thought of getting a job and entering the real world and having real responsibilities seems daunting and overwhelming at times.

Instead of waking up and going to class, getting a real job at an actual business or company.

For others it might not be such a big leap, but for me it is.

Knowing that a big change in my life is coming makes me happy about that fact I am   graduating and accomplishing my goal.

It also makes me feel nervous and anxious that I will no longer be living a college student lifestyle.