Real world hitting me
So the real world is kind of hitting me. College was a blast with friends and constantly going out but I'm working full time now, and it's tough just going through the repetitive nature of work. I stay in touch with friends, but it's just not the same when you're dispersed around the country. I'm kind myself getting a bit nostalgic/depressed about it pretty often. I kind of wish I went to NYC but I picked LA/SF to be close to family. It's nice being close, but I feel like I'm not living a very fun lifestyle. Any tips for how you guys added some flavor to life/made friends to do shit with when starting as new analysts? Damn growing up and college was a blast, never appreciated it enough at the time
Definitely not alone bro, I feel this 100%. I recently started signing up for random Saturday classes to meet people lol
I joined martial arts class. Wrong move to meat people here, very few chicks and not that young. They had no interest in clubbing
Try joining sports clubs and ngos , those will probably help you meet new people
What sports clubs would you recommend?
Looks like you chose family over friends then. Past over future.
Very odd outlook…
Yeah because we all know if theres one thing most people regret, its spending time with their family and prioritizing them... You must be new to finance brotha
I feel sorry for you. Either you were really hurt by family or just young & dumb.
we all peak in college
trash mentality
someone doesn't get sarcasm lmao. I'd put money that most people genuinely trying to do IB will have no where near a crazy college experience unless they get the job via nepotism.
Nah. I studied engineering in college and was busting my ass, I’m peaking now and it’s glorious.
The first 2 years out of college are the worst. You're not adjusted to the real world, you're not making great money, and you're probably working on the worst aspects of your job that you will your entire career.
Trust me that things get a lot better later. Work becomes more enjoyable when you're not just an analyst plugging numbers and powerpoints all day without much of an idea what's going on. Once you get to your late 20's, you'll be much more engaged with your career and enjoying it more and you'll be making more money.
It realistically takes 2-3 years in a new place to find your way into a friend group that you really enjoy. Just give yourself time. Get out there and meet people as much as possible, you'll probably make friends with a lot of people that don't stick around for long, but you'll slowly get introduced to more and more people and eventually find some that click. You'll also start enjoying your job more and more, so it all gets better.
Being in NYC definitely helps, but if you really find yourself wanting to go there then just search for your next opportunity there. Don't get caught up in the moment. 2 - 3 years flies by and soon you'll be in a better position.
Mine were awesome - DC first then NYC.
I meant worst of the years you'll have after college in your 20's. Not that they were terrible or didn't have fun
The first couple years after college suck, then I felt like my 20s got better every year after around 25/26
Same exact age for me too. Everything seems to start clicking then. I too was bummed my first couple years outside of college. Now that I'm in my 30s, the years I long for were 25 - 29. Such a nice mix of still being really young but more mature, making some good money but not having obligations, finding the right friend groups, finally understanding the things you value vs things you don't in life to cut out the fat and focus on the good stuff. I had an unreal college experience that I used to miss, but not I don't even consider a single year of college amongst the top 5 years of my life. Early 30's have still been very solid too, I just have this looming anxiety of falling asleep one night and waking up and being 40 that I didn't have when I was 28.
By the way - me and my friends in our early 30's (at least the ones who don't have kids which is most still) still get together once every few months for a group trip somewhere fun and they have been more fun than anything I ever did in college. We've done Tulum, Colombia, Ibiza, Miami to name a few.
Also, I feel like I see my friends way more too because we keep going to everyone's weddings and bachelor parties.
Start gambling, that will def add some spice to life.
Yes but have a hard limit on how much you’re willing to lose and stick to it…
Few things hit like losing a month's pay between blackjack and chasing that roulette dragon baby 🎰🎲👑🃏
Not to scare you, but if you keep up that mentality you’ll be sitting there at 28 and being upset about how you didn’t appreciate your early 20’s, then you’ll be 35 and think about how you didn’t appreciate late 20’s…rinse and repeat.
Life has different stages, but honestly they are all a blast (almost 40 here…), they are just different. But it can take time to adapt to them.
Things I did at that time in my life:
1) Plan a trip with your close friends: helps you stay connected and it can be a ton of fun since you don’t see them as much. Pick a place you all want to visit (or just do the stereotypical Vegas thing, whatever suits you)
2) make sure you are taking care of your physical and mental health: working out, getting outside, doing things you enjoy, finding time for yourself. It can be a bit of a shock to go from constant free time in college to a job. Many people can stop focusing on their health and that is a big mistake
3) try to find time for new things or passions: cooking classes, wine tasting, sport leagues, events, concerts. Pick the things you really enjoy and make a plan for getting time to do them. Bonus if they help you meet new people
4) Enjoy the freedom; you most likely aren’t married, you can travel last minute to almost anywhere, you have time for yourself. Enjoy that and enjoy some of your money. You always wanted to try a 3 Michelin star place? Go for it. Wanted to rent a super car for a weekend, enjoy yourself. You have few responsibilities and a good paying job, enjoy some of it.
5) meet new people: related to finding events. There are so many young people in major cities looking for friends. Go step outside your comfort zone.
Honestly, I’ve loved basically every year in my 20s and 30s. Life is fun, and if you can take care of yourself you feel just as good as you did in college (energy/physically).
OP - I feel your pain (went through the same myself after college). As a guy in his early 30s now, I would just echo what others have said (and their good suggestions) - the first couple of years after college suck, but trust me it does get better!
As others have said - you're having to work long hours for not that much money relatively (whilst it's nice having a pay cheque, that's also accompanied by real adult responsibilities like rent, bills etc), missing your college buddies, missing your free time, and trying to find your place in the world. So it's understandable and natural that it feels like a bit of a grind.
But (at least in my experience) after the first couple of years it does get better, and in fact as fond as I was of college, there's no way I'd trade my life now to go back. Honestly mid to late 20s are great - you start to get the hang of your job and gain confidence, make new friends (whilst hopefully keeping in touch with old ones), and probably most importantly become more confident/knowledgeable in who you are as a person. How ever confident people seemed in college, in reality most of us were just trying to figure out who we were and what we wanted to do with our lives (at least I was) - by the time you get to your late 20s you have a much better idea of that.
So if all goes well you end up being more confident, much better paid as you progress in your career, make new friends and have awesome experiences through your 20s. Honestly the vacations and experiences I've had in my 20s/early 30s are objectively way better than what I did in college - don't get me wrong college was amazing and I'll cherish those memories forever, but if I had to go back to being a student now I would find it pretty lame in comparison. I mean would as a student would you go to places like Bali/Thailand or go for a blowout weekend in Vegas with your buddies staying at 5-star hotels and going to VIP in a club? (note club VIP is obscenely overpriced but worth it as an experience)
And personally whilst meeting girls in college was fun, I find dating easier now - as mentioned you have a much better idea of who you are + confidence, have lots of money in your pocket so you can "flash the cash" and take a hot date to nice restaurants/bars etc to impress them, without worrying about the bill. I own my apartment so don't have to worry about room-mates etc (although living with room-mates in my mid-20s was great fun too!)
Also when I do meet the right girl the next step will be having kids - I realize that probably sounds terrifying to you at your age (as it did for me) but when you get a bit older and have had plenty of fun, starting a family will seem just like another new exciting chapter of life, at least that's what I'm hoping for anyway lol.
So yeah sorry OP this was a bit of a stream of consciousness - but in summary what I'm saying is this is the worst part, but trust me that whilst college was great your best days are most certainly not behind you - in fact they're all ahead of you. Just try to get settled in and adjust, and almost certainly before you know it as the weeks and months pass you'll hopefully find things getting better and better - until one day it's surpassed college and whilst you treasure those memories you no longer wish you could go back.
Good luck OP.
should't LA be just as fun? or maybe even better cause you can go to the beach and don't have to spend tons of money to take girls out and hang out with friends. SF is probably not so good tho.
LA is a tough city to make new friends after school. It's a years long process
Agreed, LA is so sprawling and car-centric that its tough to meet people easily.
He’s closer to SF I think
I’m also a recent graduate and am pretty new to la - moved from NYC. Shoot Me a private message would like to get a beer or something
Same here
I think it’s important to live in a city built for young people. I would’ve thought LA, or at least some parts of LA, would fit that description. But either I was wrong or you’re in the wrong part of LA.
If you can’t move then budget the time & money to visit your friends who live in the more fun places. It’s always worth it. And you’re still at that age where crashing on couches is cool.
Parts of LA for sure do. West Hollywood and Santa Monica are a ton of fun, lots of hot girls and generally a pretty good vibe. It's just hard because of how spread out / how long it takes to gets to part of the city that typically keeps people in their neighborhoods and stops them from exploring. Also it really is true that people are pretty superficial, which is good in some sense for impressing people if you're doing well and take good care of yourself, but there are so many multi millionaires who work out 5 hours a day just roaming around it makes it harder to compete versus a dense city like NYC where you compete with many types of people.
I picked NYC and I’m having the god damn time of my life now. No more helicopter parents, no more stupid fucking midterms and final exams. Just do some easy ass work and then go get wasted with friends on the weekend. Or go and play spike ball in Central Park. Or go to Queens and eat some killer Indian food. Or go on Hinge and get a quick fling.
I fucking love it
lmao why are you wankers trying to prove so hard that you partied hard in college on an anonymous forum?
Some cities are a better fit for certain personality types than others though. Perhaps you're not an SF guy. I personally wouldn't be either, but maybe I'm biased because I'm from FL
I honestly think its just because you are in SF/Bay Area. Trash city, with the most beta/liberal losers on planet earth with some of the least attractive girls (both in physical terms and overall personality) of any city in the US. Also doesnt help its basically majority H1b Indians/Chinese who are not well integrated into America yet. And its like 70% male. Total tech loser sausage fest with 5/10 girls with nose rings who think they are 8/10s.
Move to Dallas, Chicago, NYC, DC, Miami or Nashville and I bet you have a lot more fun.
Yea I went to undergrad at Vandy and being in the Bay relatively is really ass. Can't figure out why there are so few attractive girls and why they think they are some type of celebrity supermodel with the average personality also being mediocre. Travelling to NYC/Boston and suddenly you feel way more desirable and confident, fueled partially by good interactions with others.
Why is Dallas fun?
What are you on about
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