I’ve got one last semester after this one, fingers crossed. And while I’ve got my graduation covered, I still had no idea until recently where to go from there. Not from a professional standpoint: I have half an idea what I’m doing in regard to my career. No, I’m talking about literally everything else. I spent way too long not thinking about what comes next, just holding that off for another day.

I’m not going to give you some “Top 5 tips for life after college” column. Truth is, any article like that, of which there are many, certainly wouldn’t answer all the main questions you may have. Instead, I want to give you broad recommendations: start thinking about this now, take it slow, take advantage of every resource you can get both in and beyond NC State and others.

Of all those recommendations, the one I stress about the most is to take it slow and steady. For example, if you’re able to, there’s absolutely no problem going back home for a while after graduation and building up enough to find something for yourself.

Jack Meeks with Collegiate Times emphasized that the potential wealth building that comes from not having to worry about home buying can “be used to build an emergency fund, start a retirement account, save for a down payment on your own home, invest in the stock market or be put away for another future goal.”

Of course, after finding a place to live, the one thing on every student’s mind is finding a job. If you have some plan to travel or something like that, that’s fine, but finding an income, even if it’s not exactly what you were expecting, will plant your feet on solid ground. This may seem obvious, but the truth is that majority of us students won’t be immediately hopping into our dream job no matter how many internships we’ve had. There’s some good tips on learnhowtobecome.org, but figuring it out is ultimately up to you.

One way I’m thinking about things that’s helping me compartmentalize, is to view these responsibilities as just the natural evolution of what you’re already doing right now as a student. Finding and paying for an apartment is like the harder form of finding a dorm, finding some mode of transportation to your job is like finding your way to your classes, and so on.

And don’t forget, even though people love to paint the adult experience as a completely independent one where you rely on yourself for almost everything, the truth is that a friend, or Google, can be a reliable source for all those questions about taxes and insurance I’m sure you have.

There’s a lot of things to take into account though; way too much for a singular opinion piece, the aforementioned taxes and insurance for example. But the slow and steady track is typically the safe one as you find your way. And if you’re one of the many people like me who are still figuring stuff out, you’ve got time, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Take postgraduation slow, and enjoy the first really free chapter of your life.