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Graduating? Here's Life Kit's Best Advice For Taking The Next Step

A figure wearing a yellow backpack looks into the stars, where there are outlines of graduation caps, pencils, a piggy bank, a saw and a scale.
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Kristen Uroda for NPR

This story is adapted from Life Kit's weekly newsletter, which arrives in inboxes each Friday. Subscribe here.

The robes are out, the tassels are swinging, and those mortarboards are thick with glitter glue and the pun du jour — that's right all, it's graduation season.

Graduation is an ending, a goodbye to the safe harbors of senioritis and teachers that know you and your Zoom background. And when so much of the world around you is still covered in question marks, it can be hard to feel excited about change. But remember, graduation is a beginning too — a chance to start fresh as an older, wiser you.

So let's get that new journey started on the right foot! These Life Kit episodes can help you get started.

For high school grads heading to college

Start with this primer on do's and don'ts for your first year of college, with advice on picking classes and connecting with professors.

Here's how to find study habits that work for you.

Paying your own way? Listen here.

If you're heading toward a job in the trades, this guide can help you find one. (Also helpful for college grads!)

For college grads looking for a job

Officially on a job hunt? Listen to this episode for landing a job after college, or this one about making career changes.

Follow this Spotify playlist for our episodes on life's big career questions.

New roles can be scary and impostor syndrome can creep in quick: here's how to deal.

Navigating the big changes that come with graduations

If it's finally time to say goodbye to that hand-me-down couch and beer-stained kitchen, here's our episode on moving on a budget.

Friendships can change as lives change, and that can be hard — listen to our episode on how to work through it.

If you're in your 20's, author Elizabeth Segran says you're in the period that will launch the rest of your life. Listen to our episode on her book, The Rocket Years, here.

We'd love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823 or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.

For more Life Kit, subscribe to our newsletter. [Copyright 2021 NPR]

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