It has been four years since I graduated from college and I am still finding my way around the world. As soon as you graduate, your life is entirely your own. Post-graduates are supposed to undergo a significant transition after college as they move from academic environments to professional and personal environments. I always wanted to work in an office. When I was a kid, I wanted to be the girl with a career and who worked her way up the ladder. She was going to be so successful and happy. It was an amazing time in her life. She traveled, saved money, and enjoyed life to the fullest. A story like this does not exist.

Postgrad life is just not fulfilling when you don't have a plan. I never had a job line-up or plans. Leaving college was all I wanted to do. I was completely lost and didn't know who I was anymore. I was an adult with no academic life anymore. Everything in my life had changed without my consent. I had no idea how different my life would become. I want a refund now. Life after college was the most challenging experience of my life There is nothing nice about the real world. It's against you and being a newbie doesn't help. Flourishing and thriving aren't working for anyone and the old playbook is your garage. Making it in today's society is a luxury and privillege, and not everyone can experience it. As a black woman who has her challenges in life, I'm not where I thought I would be in life. I'm failing at it.

FOUR YEAR LATER

After leaving college, the first month was depressing. My academic career was officially over after six years. One month later, I landed my first full-time job at Cintas. After that I worked every day in the heat, arm hurts, toxic environment, people left weekly and discovered people hated the job. I graduated in June 2022 from George Brown College in downtown Toronto. I went back to work and it was getting worse and everyone from 2021-2022 left the job. I quit my job in February after my paid vacation was over. I launched my lifestyle and wellness blog. After working the night shift for over a year, being at home during the day in 2023 was the best experience until financial worries hit in. I joined an employment program to use work for three months after I was laid off. The year changed. I was at home until May and then joined the Fashion Exchange program. I had the opportunity to work in the fashion corporate at Wuxly through a field placement until I was not asked back. It's 2025 now, I've been job searching for over six months and with no results. Living the life of a broken artist is my passion and I'm committed to working for myself full-time. Living my adult life as CEO of a digital media company.

MY REFLECTION AFTER FOUR YEARS LATER

There were a lot of things that didn't go according to plan in my life. My life keeps getting worse and worse, like a dumpster fire. Being an adult and not getting anywhere isn't nice. I haven't achieved a career, a car, living alone or a big savings account. The actual work I did was to work on myself, attend three college programs, let go of my past, date myself, build a wardrobe, meet new people, decorate my bedroom, and work a full-time job. I wasn't able to reach big milestones and I failed at finding a plot. The older you get the more you learn and explode what works and what doesn't. I still have time to achieve my goals in life but having a child window naturally is between 35-39. I'm not sure about my future at the moment. Right now, I'm 29 and working on my plot with the foundation and creating a living wage through my passion.

In order to succeed in the real world, I did everything I could. I'm at the final step and that's entrepreneurship. A career is not happening for me. It does not work for me, and I am not able to perform well in interviews. I'm free to explode what I want to explode into my life now. Taking a step back, I realized that my dream isn't working for me. I'm a struggling artist and that's okay with me. Even though I'm broke, I live my best life every day. I do need money but I need peace, mental health and freedom more. I will pursue my own self-funded career and the traditional route is dead. It's time for me to let go of my place in society. What I do is focus on cash flow and building my future. My plan is to fund my life for over 30 years. Everything feels so out of touch now with how uncertain the world is. Living my untraditional life is what I embrace and celebrating every day. At the moment, I am living in peace and don't know where my life will take me.