Goodbye Grad School: How to manage anxiety, money after graduation

KATE SHIELDS Lantern reporter shields.323@osu.edu

Leaving Ohio State and entering the real world after a graduate program is a common cause of anxiety for many students as they approach graduation.

Whether it’s managing finances, paying off student loans or achieving a healthy worklife balance, numerous anxieties come with leaving a graduate program and entering a specific field. Luckily, there are several ways in which graduate school students can look to the future with confidence and excitement rather than fear.

Mary Stromberger, dean of Ohio State’s Graduate School, said a common struggle for recent graduates — and something she dealt with when she graduated — is newfound free time and deciding how to spend it.

“My advice would be to encourage students to try to think of really constructive ways to use their time that will benefit their well-being,” Stromberger said.

Kyla Brathwaite, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Communication, said in an email she expects getting out of the student mindset to be the biggest challenge when she graduates next spring.

“This year with teaching and doing my candidacy exams, and now dissertation work, I have been able to start balancing ‘working’ and doing research,” Brathwaite said. “I am kind of nervous about the unknown of not being in that ‘student hustling to study for exams and read for class’ mindset.”

Stromberger said students may also be tempted to start purchasing things they couldn’t afford as a student rather than being disciplined with their savings.

“If you can start saving early, even if it’s just a little bit of money, it starts to develop that habit of savings, which is going to be important years down the road as you prepare for retirement,” Stromberger said.

Ben Raines, program coordinator for financial education at the Student Wellness Center, said it’s important for students to understand the idea of compound interest — the interest you earn on interest — and the dollars you save in your 20s are worth much more than those you save later in life.

“I always encourage students, even if you can just save a little bit of money monthto-month, it’s going to end up putting you so far ahead of the curve for the retirement conversation that you’re really doing yourself a favor,” Raines said.

Raines said financial management is about putting money to productive use.

“Everybody has the income they’re going to have,” Raines said. “Everybody has the expenses they’re going to have, and to me personal finance is mostly about, ‘How can I drive a wedge between the money I make and the money I spend and use that money for productive means?’”

Brathwaite said she is anxious about her student loans following her undergraduate degree at Cornell University, but she’s budgeting to prepare to pay them off

Raines said various lifestyle aspects — such as having a family, focusing on travel or retiring — early determine the way someone budgets.

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“There are things that everybody should do, like have a healthy savings account for how to deal with emergencies,” Raines said. “Beyond that it becomes a little less objective and really comes down to what lifestyle people want, what they want to prioritize, and that’s ultimately driven by their goals and their values.”

Stromberger said finding a financial adviser can be very helpful for graduates.

“Having a plan helps you establish control over your finances, then will help with your anxiety and stress,” Stromberger said.

Raines said a common misconception is establishing a financial plan is very complicated.

“I encourage people not to be so overwhelmed by choosing the optimal thing,” Raines said. “Focus on the things you can control and consistently manage your money well, and that’s 80 percent of it.”

Stromberger said graduates also fear the thought of losing mentors and close friends as they navigate their career.

“It’s important to also keep ties with your close friends that you’ve made here at Ohio State,” Stromberger said. “Stay connected with them whether it’s virtually or through social media, but stay connected in a way so that you can maintain that part of your network that’s also going to be important later on in your life.”

Stromberger said it all comes down to who you know in life, so keeping connections with both mentors and peers is very important.

“The key thing is hopefully students have been prepared for their future career through their graduate work,” Stromberger said. “And the important thing too is their faculty mentors don’t go away the moment that you get your degree.”

She said it’s also helpful for graduates to connect with Ohio State alumni as they experience life outside of school.

“There’s half a million OSU alumni out there in the world,” Stromberger said. “There’s opportunities for new graduates to connect with other OSU alumni that are in their particular career area that can potentially be great mentors as they make that transition.”

Stromberger said graduation is a time students should look forward to and know they have the skills to do well in their careers.

“It’s a very exciting time, and it’s a time where they can reclaim their free time and restructure their work-life balance, and to think about how they use that free time to nurture their well-being,” Stromberger said.

Many students face anxiety following graduation from Ohio State, including finances and keeping in touch with friends.