There is nothing like finishing a journey and finishing it well. It sweets the tummy and makes the heart lighter. But as soon as one thing is ending, the question becomes what next? For as many ASA members that have graduated this Spring and will graduate in the summer, this question looms over them. Towards the end of a degree program, a unique streak of hustling mindset kicks in and gears us up to find the next best thing. By way of this, many have bagged themselves wonderful jobs, admissions into other higher degree programs, and a ticket to living a gallant life.
To all our graduates who have figured out the next step and are working towards accruing the bigger things of life, we say congratulations and well done. It’s not easy. One thing we ask is that you carry along as many people as possible as you walk into the next maze, sorry tunnel, sorry road, no, ladder, as you keep walking sha. Don’t forget ASA, don’t forget the community you have built during your time at UA, don’t forget your friends, the ones you played PS5 with, watched football games with, shopped with, cooked with, partied hard with, gossiped with, and cried with.
But wait first, before we all start melting into the feeling of goodbyes, we have to celebrate this achievement of graduation na. Forget the commencement ceremonies, the photos from those days will live forever, memories will be kept, no doubt.
Peep these fine pictures na…
But specific persons at ASA, persons like Oluwafunmilayo Akinpelu aka Funmi Omo Moji, we want all graduates to chill and lean into this achievement that they have bagged. We won’t allow for any slighting, any belittling, or any gainsaying about your current victory, we don’t want you to forget that you are a champion, a UA champion of the here and now.
So, suspend thoughts about that Ph.D. program you want to start pursuing in August and perish for now imaginations about how you hope to strangulate yourself with work so that you can make more moolah for cruise and enjoyment.
Or is it marriage you are about to enter soon? Forget that one first.
Instead, for the next one month, fervently enter a graduation celebration galore. And if you are like me (Funmi Omo Moji) for whom celebration does not come easy, here are five hacks on what to do to celebrate yourself for being a successful UA graduate.
1. Bring that Afro-Nation vibe to your crib
It is easy to bet that a lot of you play music as you take your bath, eat, read, work, and even sleep. But as a graduate, you have to double down on the stereo energy in your crib and amp up the volumes of your Bluetooth speaker. Play those songs that give you the feels and dance to your heart’s content. Dance like David danced, dance like Davido dances, dance like you are unavailable to misery and have no space in your life for downtime. And if being EMO and dancing to sad songs is your thing, then go for it.
2. Bingewatch with pride, not guilt
As a recent graduate, binge-watching is life and not a guilty pleasure. So if you have a TV series or movie you have been putting off under the guise that you are still busy. Do away with that deceit, grab your favorite snack, plop into your bed or cushion, and bask in the reverie of watching life play out on the big screen. If you can’t be the drama, you can at least view it.
3. Dress up like every day is a carnival
It’s summer. You have the degree, you’ve got the body, you’ve got time… so what is stopping you from pulling out those fine dresses you have been saving for important occasions from the closet and wearing them every goddamn place you go to from church and mosque to the cinema to the club. And don’t you dare say you have nowhere to go to. Look around, there are goable places everywhere. You can draw inspiration from one of my favorite social media influencers. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuFdK_Igf-c/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
4. Pick up a new hobby…
Nothing too serious biko. No one is asking you to turn to Usain Bolt in a jiffy or become a gym rat overnight and you certainly can’t transform into Banksy or Basquiat out of the blues but there is nothing stopping you from perfecting your baking skills or going out on a daily walk as you swore you would when you first came to America. Nothing is impossible. But I must warn you, if it doesn’t work out, don’t kill yourself over making it happen. It’s easy to lose yourself in the process of trying to gain something. Don’t let life play a fast one on you.
5. Take a chill pill
The long and short of everything is that now that you have graduated, take a chill pill. No doctor will sell it to you but it is not hard to find. All you have to do is find reasons every day to laugh like a hyena be it scrolling on social media to feast on the latest funny memes or doing morning devotion from 5 am to 5 pm. Just do whatever makes you sleep better at night. Las las, degree or no degree, it is peace of mind we are all looking for.
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