This is the eternal question posed by many an undergrad. Normally, the answers consist of jobs or further academia. Maybe a move to a new city. Maybe a year traveling throughout Europe. Regardless, there will be new challenges ahead. But luckily, at 22 years old, undergrads have the boundless energy and liver resilience needed to take them on.

But what if you have been completing an MBA while working full-time during a pandemic? This entire thing has been one big challenge. Your job has not gotten easier; in fact, you’ve had to learn how to manage people, and then, learn how to do it again completely remotely. Were the classes hard? I mean, at the very least time consuming. You’ve asked yourself in the middle of each semester, “Why the FUCK did you decide to do this?!” You’ve written five-figure check after five-figure check to a bursar who knows nothing about you.

And now you have a graduation date. It’s in your sights. 2 classes. 4.5 credits. July 3rd.

I’ve done a lot of work this year in therapy. Not that I’m going to post on the internet, of course. But only to say, I’ve slowly learned to separate my identity from my work and my achievements. My twenties have been an absolute rocket ship. After I finished undergrad, I started out in a role I didn’t love; this lead me to trying to find the perfect job. Because if I had the perfect job, then I would be happy. Then, I got the perfect job, and I pushed myself to become a leader at the perfect job. I took risks, failed, and iterated until I got to the next level in this bizarre career video game.

At some point, I decided to apply to business school. Recently reading my entrance essay, I was reminded of my complete lack of intention when taking this on. It mentioned something about wanting to be a founder, but, honestly, that was because that made the best narrative paired with the role I was in. I was accepted into the only school I applied to because I wanted to stay at my perfect job and go to school part-time.

I’ve been asked by a lot by friends if “business school is worth it” or “Do I regret it?” The answer quality would depend on the point in the semester and whether I was taking an accounting course, but most of the time I would say I was happy with my decision. In a lot of ways, school did make this pandemic less scary. It occupied a lot of my time. I’ve made some great friends. I’ve learned to read faster. I’ve learned to write faster and whatever level of succinctness required by an assignment: concise arguments for 1-page case write-ups and long, passive-voice personal narratives for 10-page papers. I’ve learned to have dialogues with people smarter than myself - which requires some comfort in sitting and listening. I’ve calculated NPVs, constructed brand strategies, and practiced six-way negotiations. This is the education that filled my designated 15-30 additional work hours per week.

Now I get those hours back. So what should I do after I graduate?

The old me, the astronaut, would have filled these hours with more. More energy towards my job. More side projects. Maybe founding that company from my essay. The new me also has some of these instincts, especially in creative pursuits. Should I start writing a blog? (Meta.) Should I continue the screenplay I wrote on school break and stage a reading somewhere? Should I start a YouTube channel? Should I start taking more fashion Instagrams?! Creative expression is healthy and I’m not going to shut down any whims to try new things. But I’m also not going to punish myself for a lack of consistency. There is no timeline for this. I already have a job. I don’t need a second one.

This manifesto is obviously mainly for myself, but welcome to my Roaring Thirties. Things might get weird.