Top Tips for Managing Senior Year Anxiety

College is a time for fun, freedom, and personal exploration. Senior year, however, tends to ram home a lot of the more unpleasant realities for many college students. All of a sudden you’re almost done with your education (unless you’re headed straight to grad school) and you need to figure out what you’re going to do to support yourself once you graduate. Senior-year job anxiety is very real, and it can add a lot of stress to what’s already a stressful enough time. To help you cope with that anxiety and get through your final year of college strong, here are some of our top tips for managing senior-year job stress.

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1. This Too Shall Pass

The first thing you really need to remember is that all the stress you’re feeling is temporary. Sometimes when there’s a lot on your plate it can be hard to look past the current moment and imagine things being better. Between homework, graduation, friends, family, and job hunting, there’s a lot on you right now. However, you’re going to be ok. Take a breath, tell yourself that, and get through it, one day at a time. You’re going to be ok.

2. You Can’t Do Everything

Right now you’re probably desperately trying to do as much as you can to improve your chances of finding a job. Interviews, internships, volunteering, anything you can do must seem like a great idea, right? Not necessarily. Ultimately, there are some things outside of your control. You can’t change the economic state of the world right now, the rate people are being hired, or which companies are looking to add new members to their rosters. There’s only so much you can do, so driving yourself crazy trying to do everything isn’t going to help. Instead, focus on the things you can do. You can take care of yourself, find a few opportunities to bolster your resume, and/or do some networking. Trying to do it all is just going to end with you burned out and in a worse place than you were at the start. Pace yourself, and focus on what you can actually control.

3. Set Manageable Goals

While panicking over too many choices is counterproductive, working towards a few smaller goals can be a great way to burn some stress. Feeling like you’re making progress can be a huge weight off your mind, so here are a few ideas for goals you should work towards.

• Attend a networking event: Networking is the number one way to get a job these days. Applications are all well and good, but meeting people and talking with employers is the best way to get hired. Try to attend one networking event in your senior year to get started.

• Submit a few applications: Driving yourself crazy applying to everything won’t help, but sending out some applications is still an excellent way to find work and process your stress.

• Find a side hustle: Side hustles can make you a bit of cash and bolster your resume. Whether that’s selling crafts or art on Etsy, driving for a delivery company like Doordash, or doing some part-time writing, a side hustle is a productive direction to push your energies.

4. Talk to People

You’re not alone in feeling stressed, even if it’s easy to forget that. Most of the other folks in your class year are probably going through the same stuff you are. Talk with them about it! Not only can you commiserate and help support each other, but people might also have tips they can share to help you find a great job. Talking with friends is a great way to reduce your stress and have a great senior year.

5. Practice Self Care

Perhaps the most important tip on this list, there’s nothing else that’ll help you quite as much as taking care of yourself. If you’re constantly pushing yourself to keep going, apply more, and do more, all you’ll end up doing is stressing yourself out even more. That’ll lead to a recursive cycle where your stress makes you feel even more stressed, and you suffer. The only way to break out of that cycle is to practice self-care. Self-care looks different for everyone. For some people it’s eating foods they enjoy, for others, it’s about reading or watching their favorite books and shows. Regardless, self-care is about doing the things you enjoy and letting yourself find pleasure in life. Instead of focusing solely on the bad things in life, practice self-care and find the positives in it too.

Senior year can be a stressful time. You’ve got to deal with final projects to close out your major, the stress of moving to the next stage of your life, and so many other things that can make it hard to really enjoy the time. It’s important to remember that college is supposed to be fun though! You should be enjoying your senior year as much as possible, not wasting it stressing about the future. Hopefully, with these tips, you’re more prepared to enjoy your senior year to the fullest while still getting ready to step out into the world.