As a parent, we are probably never prouder of our child than the day they graduate from college. This is the day that is the realization of all of their hard work, of their labors. But for you, this is, in many ways, where the hard work will begin. It’s notoriously more difficult now for graduates to get into their chosen career, despite the sensible choice of degree they may have made! So what can we do to help our children make their mark in the world?
The Financial Burden
The average graduate from 2016 has debts of $37,172, which is up 6% from the previous year. The financial pressures alone can be enough to send a family spiraling into debt, but it’s important for you to get as much financial help as possible to help pay off the debt. There are debt consolidation resources like consolidatestudent.loan that can point you in the right direction of how to best consolidate specific student loans, such as the federal loan. But in order for your child to be able to pay off some of the debt, it’s very likely they will have to move back in with you.
Living With Your Child (Again)
A lot of parents may think that when they wave goodbye to their child at the start of their ollege education that is it, and they can turn that room into a gym, but a lot of graduates have no choice but to come back home to live with their parents. This can be quite a conflict in some ways, but in order for your child to get decent employment, this is a small sacrifice you will have to make in the meantime. It can be stressful from both perspectives, especially if your child has bigger hopes and expectations of where they wanted to be after they graduated, and it’s unlikely they thought they would be coming home. It’s worth looking at this article from theguardian.com to get an idea from their point of view. It’s best to give them the support of having a roof over their head in the meantime which will give them more focus to get a worthwhile job and move into their own place.
Instilling Good Working Habits
The college lifestyle is one where most people get up at noon, hardly go to any lectures, and their sleeping pattern is akin to a vampire, so it might be important at this point to get them into some good working habits. It usually takes around a year for graduates to get their head around the standard 9 to 5 working pattern so in the meantime it’s worth helping them develop some habits but aren’t learned with a college degree. Habits like respect, patience, discipline, and punctuality are all worth learning at some point, so they may as well start right now.
Avoid Mollycoddling Them
Yes, they are trying to find their own way in the world, but this means they are bound to make mistakes along the way. The best thing for you to do is to offer them as much encouragement as you can, but don’t spoil them, and realize that it will take time for them to get on their feet! It is a major learning curve for both of you, remember that!
