It’s week eight.

WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?

Somewhere between the day I walked on this campus and now, Eastern Illinois University has told me that I am due to walk across stage at graduation May 7, 2015.

I am literally eight weeks away from adulthood.

The real world.

I am freaked out.

After college, each students dream is to hit the ground running by getting a job, an apartment of their own right away, and maybe even a puppy.

But the harsh reality is that isn’t how it happens to everyone.

There are some students who move back in with their parents, apply to what would feel like a million jobs with the expectation to get a bite right off the bat. What actually happens is no phone call from any employers for six months.

I am hoping that at this point I have gained enough knowledge to be one of those students who gets a job right off the bat.

I hope to be able to get an apartment rather quickly after graduation.

What if I am one of the students that don’t?

How long after college will it take me to feel like an adult?

I would like to think that I have done extremely well here at Eastern, left my mark, and will become the success that I have always wished to be.

But what if I end up in my parent’s house until I’m 33?

If you cannot tell by now, I might just be the world biggest over thinker and worrier, but I can only assume that other college students that are about to graduate are dealing with the same fears that I am.

Remember when we were all in middle school, and our biggest worries were if we got pimples?

That’s so 2005.

In 2015, in the next eight weeks, we need to grind harder than we ever have during college to get our lives together.

Study harder.

Start applying for jobs now.

Start apartment searching now.

Start creating a plan for the next five years right now.

There is a large and invisible brick wall that some will hit if they do not head this advice.

Everyone has the power to be a success.

You have to choose to be one.

Olivia S. Diggs is a senior family and consumer sciences major and she can be reached at [email protected].