We’re all in that weird limbo between the end of exams and the start of a new uni year. Or – if this was your last uni year – graduation.

For those of us that are graduating, we’re sure you’re punctuating your celebrations of joy with a wholesome dose of screaming into your pillow. Probably because this whole thing is equal parts liberating and terrifying: so much is gonna change.

Yes, there’s the obvious things like not having to do assignments, or eat those stale foccacias from the uni cafe, but there’s other stuff too. Here are some big picture ways your life will change once you graduate from university.

#1 You’ll Tidy Up Your Sleep Schedule

At uni, our sleep patterns is all over the place. We can sleep until 10am to make it to our tute by 11, stay up all night partying and occasionally wake up early for a prac. A reasonable bed time and reasonable waking hour are totally foreign to us.

But by the time we start a full-time job, that stuff just can’t fly anymore. Welcome to a lifetime of your body clock waking you up at 7am on a Saturday. And you know what? It’s kinda awesome. Amazing what enough sleep can do for you, tbh, along with a diet that actually includes vegetables.

#2 You’ll Figure Out What Direction You’re Heading In

Uni feels a lot like being at a train station and being asked what train you’d like to go on, leaving you to um and ah about the infinite options flashing in front of you. Once graduation comes, you have no choice but to just jump on whatever one’s next and see where it takes you.

The back and forth about deciding which path to take is really difficult. There’s so many possibilities, which means there’s so much you can miss if you don’t make the “right” choice. No wonder we torture ourself over it. But if you just go with the flow and take the opportunities you’re presented with, you’ll worry less about “what ifs” and more about “what nows”.

Also, you’ll figure out that you can get off the train and take another whenever you like.

#3 You’ll Live Somewhere Different

Unless you’re already living out of home, graduation will be the real catalyst to get you out from under your parents’ roof. Or even if you want to still live under their roof, there might be different rules than there were when you lived at home.

You’re a full adult now. Not, like, half-adult-who-is-actually-a-kid trying to do adult things but a fully fledged, contributing member of society. Your parents are gonna treat you like one. So is that brand new housemate who asks you to actually wash your dishes and get your laundry basket out of the living room.

#4 You Can Do More Of What You Love

Leaving uni and getting a full-time job means that you’ll probably get less time overall (no more half days and long weekends), but you’ll get more time that’s actually yours. Remember doing hobbies for the sake of it? Or watching TV without feeling that niggling feeling you need to do an assignment instead?

No you probably don’t because you’ve been in school, like, forever. Let us tell you: it’s total bliss.

#5 You’ll Hang Out With Different People

When you and your friends have pursued completely different life paths, your lifestyles can begin to clash. You’ll always have your MVPs that endure no matter what, but those others who you only spoke to at uni or carried on from high school will begin to drop off.

And that’s totally fine! Those changes are totally normal, especially just after uni when you have to enter the big bad world. You’ll start to meet your next phase of friends instead that’ll get you through your 20s.

(Lead image: Friends/NBC)