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How These Black Women Navigated Their Post-Graduation Crisis

When I graduated from university two years ago, I felt unaccomplished. This feeling was triggered because I had graduated a couple of years later than I initially expected and because I was uncertain about what was next for me in life. This change in my original plans meant I had to reevaluate my life and restrategise for the future. I did not know what to do with my new reality or how to move forward. The pandemic period heightened the crisis for me because even though I had unofficially finished from the university, I could not proceed to the next phase of my life. The extended period that had many of us locked up at home made the post-graduation reality feel a lot stronger for me.

For many other black women like myself, this period after graduating from university or college is often heralded by some form of uncertainty, confusion, anxiety and depression. This phenomenon is often referred to as the post-graduation crisis. As many black women have shared, oftentimes it is not so much a full-blown life crisis as it is the little questions. It is often the switch from a structured academic lifestyle to an outside world with endless choices. Sometimes, it is the loss of friendship they held dear to heart. For some others, it is the societal expectations of what they should have achieved.