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What Will You Do Next?

What Will You Do Next?

“What will you do next?”

I’ve been asked that question three times in the last week.

I’ve fielded this question before—we all have; the moment our graduation date appears on the year’s horizon, every family member, friend, and kind stranger who discovers you’re a near-graduating student presents this question to you. It’s been two years since I graduated college, and I still don’t have a good answer to this question, despite the younger me who thought 24 years-old meant your life trajectory was set firmly in place.

Career, Life, DreamsAlly WillisJanuary 1, 2017FeaturedComment

For the Person Who Loves Work and Rest Equally

For the Person Who Loves Work and Rest Equally

I was taught that there are two types of people in the world: people who can never take a break, and people who never want to get to work. At my office, it was announced a few months ago that in 2017 we will instate an unlimited vacation time policy; half my coworkers cheered, the other half put together a strongly worded email to the CEO. Some of them hadn’t taken more than a day at a time off in years. Others used their vacation days up so quickly they had to plan each hour out to the T.

CareerAmanda BeadlescombDecember 31, 2016FeaturedComment

Top 10 Most-Read Posts of 2016

Top 10 Most-Read Posts of 2016

One of the best parts about running That First Year is getting to read all of the stories y’all send to me and thinking “Wow, that gal or guy is one helluva writer!” I’m forever grateful to be given this opportunity to take care of this space, creating community through stories shared of That First Year after college and beyond.

Below is a list of 10 posts that received the most reads this year. Give these posts a read as we bring this year to a close.

Career, Dreams, Grad School, Graduation, Health, Life, Money, Style, Travel, RelationshipsAlly WillisDecember 28, 2016FeaturedComment

Getting Lost So You Can Find Your Way

Getting Lost So You Can Find Your Way

I felt warm tears rise in the back of my eyelids when I knew where the conversation was going. Was I wanting to cry? Was I really sad? Oh, hell no! This was about to be really exciting news!

CareerRegan CunninghamDecember 27, 2016Comment

Some Birthday Words and a Gift

Some Birthday Words and a Gift

This weekend, That First Year celebrates two years of existence, which also means I’ve now been out of college for two years. I feel like I should have some sort of grasp on this “adulthood” thing, but despite what idealistic-dreamy-girl-college-me thought, I still have no real idea of what I’m doing with my life. They don’t really tell you in college that you never actually “figure life out,” do they? Turns out life isn’t a problem to be solved or a puzzle to be figured out after all, it’s just a string of days—good ones and bad ones and meh ones—to be lived in wild abundance. These two years have definitely been a lesson in this.

Career, Dreams, Graduation, LifeAlly WillisDecember 17, 2016FeaturedComment

Clicking Refresh: Life as Told by My Inbox

Clicking Refresh: Life as Told by My Inbox

Refreshing my inbox won’t make an awaited email appear any faster. I know this. Of course I know this. But that certainly doesn’t stop me from clicking that little circular arrow every thirty seconds. Waiting for good news—in this case, a coveted job offer—is excruciating, and if constantly reloading my Gmail makes it marginally more tolerable, then I will continue refreshing all day long.

Dreams, Career, LifeLiz DeadrickDecember 14, 2016FeaturedComment

"I'm Just A Girl": Introducing The Creative Exchange

"I'm Just A Girl": Introducing The Creative Exchange

You know those moments where you can just tell that someone is talking about their passion, because their face is brighter and their voice more animated and their words come easily? That’s how it is talking to Lane about her art, and nothing makes this “FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!” heart of mine happier than seeing a friend so passionately pursue what makes her come alive.

Welcome to the launch of The Creative Exchange featuring artwork and products created exclusively for That First Year by our fellow peers.

Career, Graduation, Life, Style, RelationshipsAlly WillisDecember 6, 2016Featured, The Creative ExchangeComment

My Protagonist's Internal Conflict: What to Write?

My Protagonist's Internal Conflict: What to Write?

As young post-grad writers, we often find one another invited to the same pity party. It’s an ongoing gathering, one that Facebook pesters you about seven gazillion times a day. Officially, the event is called: What On Earth Are You Gonna Write About/Fulfill Your Lifelong Dream With/While Holding Some Shred of Dignity With Your Laptop and Cappuccino, held at Location TBD from 6:30 pm through eternity. And everyone in the written world is invited. There is also a 40 percent chance of rain.

Career, Dreams, LifeTessa DukeNovember 27, 2016FeaturedComment

Hope Lost and Regained

Hope Lost and Regained

I was in the middle of working on an assignment where I had to accompany a client home on the train. This first job after college had me crying some days over how stressful it was, on top of not being anywhere I had planned for my career to go. As the days progressed, I became more depressed, continually feeling less sane than the first day it hit me that this job had not been meant for me long term.

Career, Dreams, LifeRegan CunninghamNovember 22, 2016FeaturedComment

The Alternatives to Complaining

The Alternatives to Complaining

Today is my 13th anniversary living in Canada. I’ve been here for exactly half of my life. From the time I arrived there has never been a morning when I did not feel grateful for the decision that my mom made when she applied for immigration. The first year in Canada was a great challenge for her, but I have never heard her complain about anything. She did not complain when an immigration officer called her diploma “garbage” or when she was coming home from a temporary job at a chocolate factory with a fever and icicles stuck in her hair.

Career, RelationshipsMariya BoykoNovember 21, 2016Comment

Overcoming Perfectionism Amidst the Process

Overcoming Perfectionism Amidst the Process

You should know, and you may find it ironic, that you’re reading an article on overcoming perfectionism from a Class A perfectionist.

If anything, I hope it makes you feel less alone, less crazy, more understood, and more capable of overcoming its downsides. Because perfectionists are already harder on themselves than anyone else, so when others put their flaws in the spotlight, it’s crippling. Worse than crippling, actually - it is suffocating.

Career, Dreams, LifeKaitlyn HiltzNovember 19, 2016Comment

Between Burnout and a Thriving Place

Between Burnout and a Thriving Place

“So Ashlee, what are your big plans for tonight?”

I was in the middle of working as a production assistant for a week-long writer’s workshop, and one of the writers tossed out the question as we were all packing up to leave the space for the evening.

It was simple small talk, but I didn’t have a good answer for it.

Career, Dreams, Life, RelationshipsAshlee LatimerNovember 13, 2016FeaturedComment

On Making Decisions and Having Regrets

On Making Decisions and Having Regrets

I don’t know what I’m doing.

How many times in the past two years have I said this or some variation of it? How many times in the past two years have I felt like I made mistakes or I regret the decisions that I made? Too many.

Career, LifeJulia NusbaumNovember 12, 2016Comment

Fear and Becoming an Adult

Fear and Becoming an Adult

Now that I'm graduating college the stress to make all the right decisions is heightened. It feels like if I make one wrong step now people will shake their heads, because they knew I would never be able to accomplish all my lengthy list of goals. I don’t want to be known as the girl who failed because she didn’t have whatever “it” is.

Career, Dreams, LifeCourtney SowderNovember 10, 2016Comment

Setting Post-Grad Goals

Setting Post-Grad Goals

This method of measuring life changes once you graduate, and that change is hard to deal with. It’s hard to not compare yourself to your peers, scroll through social media and think, “He already has a full time job, volunteers and is getting engaged… I should be too…”

CareerOlivia PannoNovember 7, 2016Comment