This morning I was reminded via TimeHop that two years ago today I made the worst decision of my life…I graduated from college. While I am a far cry from an expert on living the professional lifestyle, I have accumulated my own list of post-grad problems over the last few years. With that being said, here are 10 things no one tells you at graduation:

1. You have to start somewhere. Anywhere. More than likely that first job isn’t going to be exactly what you had in mind when you picked out your major in college and that’s okay! Work hard and be nice to people, having a great reference and a year of experience is better than bumming it on your parents couch for a year.

2. Since we’re on the topic of your parents couch, it is very strange to move back home after graduation. I am still slightly financially baffled when people immediately move to the center of a city and have a beautiful apartment straight out of college. For me I crammed all of my things into my old bedroom (still full of high school belongings)  and embraced the parents as roommates for a year. Accepting that your parents have a better social life than you is odd but it’s hard to beat the free food y’all.

3.  The gym is expensive and working out is pushed to before or after work. In college everyone goes to the gym on a regular basis at any point during the day. Post graduation brings a hefty gym fee per month and the reality that everyone else is also trying to make it to the gym between 5-7. I still wonder who attends those 11 AM classes on a Wednesday…

3. Eating alone isn’t too bad. As much as I miss the nights of grabbing dinner at my sorority house and running into all of my friends at the student union during lunch, eating lunch at my desk and heating up dinner in the microwave on a paper towel (because who wants to wash one dish?) isn’t as bad as I once thought it would be. As long as there is something more than wine and saltine crackers in my kitchen it’s a good week!

4. Just because you don’t get engaged to your college sweetheart doesn’t mean you’re going to be single forever. Although it seems as if everyone is going to be married before you turn 25, there are still a lot of us out here doing our own thing. I’ve changed more in the last two years than I did all throughout college. Work on becoming the best version of yourself and less on who the best person for you is.

5. Being back on a college campus makes you feel ancient. Think back to when you went to a high school football game the semester you began college, now amplify that by about 1000%. You slowly start to realize that all of the college athletes are younger than you and that your glory days of being that crazy college student in the stands are over.

6. Your first day at work will feel like the longest day of your life. I thought I was busy in college…but I was wrong. Very very wrong. 8-5 is a long long time compared to my 2 classes a day.

7. (As a teacher I can’t complain about time off but I am throwing this one in here for all of my non-teaching friends.) You get no time off. And if you do get time off it is strategically planned around wanting to sleep, planning fun trips with friends that you can now afford, and doing what your mom wants you to do for Christmas and Easter.

8. Everything you wore in college will never pass as business casual. Say goodbye to rolling out of bed in an over-sized t-shirt and shorts/leggings and say hello to early morning business attire. All of those years worrying about what to wear out with friends has made your closet great for the weekend…not so much for Monday-Friday.

The day I graduated from college my Uncle gave me a newspaper article written to the graduating class of 2013. These last few tips are things I have found to be very true from that article. 

9.  “Life’s experiences are too profound to be summed up into 140 characters.” Don’t spend too much time worrying about taking the perfect picture for Instagram or typing out the perfect tweet for Twitter. Enjoy the moment as it is.

10. And lastly, if you have the opportunity to order another margarita, always order another margarita.