subject: How Your Relationship Will Change After Graduation [print this page] Everything feels in placeEverything feels in place. You'll soon be handed that diploma. You have an exciting job offer for post-graduation. And you've got a boyfriend you adore. But, here's a little surprise: that boyfriend (the most familiar thing in your life) might be the most difficult part of your life moving forward.
It's just the two of you
In college you lived with at least 4 people at a time, stepped out of your dorm or apartment to be greeted with dozens of people you knew just walking down the street and had to choose between multiple parties a night. When the dorm days are over, you get a real place with a manageable one other person in a brand new neighborhood, far from your beloved campus and hundreds of faces you recognize. What does this mean? In school, you and your boyfriend probably had to work to just be alone without tons of friends around, but now you'll have to work to have others around! You will get a very clear perspective on how much you actually like one another.
You actually need those zzz's
In college you scheduled your classes to be no earlier than 10 am, you didn't really have to attend all of them and if you did, it was okay if you fell asleep in the back row. So, it was no problem when you'd be up all night hanging out with friends or going to a drive through at one in the morning. When you have to be up at 7 am to go to work, hanging out til 3 am isn't really an option anymore. My friend was really surprised by this dynamic because, since she graduated from music school and went on to become a voice coach, she was able to schedule singing lessons for whatever time she wanted. Meanwhile, her boyfriend found himself in a traditional office job and was asleep early every night. Never would she have guessed that her desire to help people learn to sing would lead to the demise of her relationship.
Money can't buy you love
But literally, the activities you used to bond over--group ski trips, date nights, bottles of alcohol--those cost money. Money that might not be available now. In school, your mom and dad probably footed the essential bills like rent and groceries and just gave you some money for fun stuff. Maybe you didn't get to spend crazy amounts of money but you were not in the habit of watching every dollar for fear of not paying your rent or internet bill at the end of the month. Now that weekend trip might put you in debt and you have to worry about every dollar you spend.
