How do you get a fulfilling job after college?What if you're still living with your parents?What's it like navigating hook-ups, dating, and new friendships outside campus life?Millions of books, blog posts, personal essays, and advice columns are written about college, but what about after college? Those first few years of finding your footing in the real world are filled with transitional crises and fraught introspection. You're a freshman all over again.The thirty-eight stories in Freshman Year of Life tell the truth about life beyond college graduation from the voices of people a few years out. Some of their experiences are funny, some heartwarming; some are about their successes, and others reflect their failures. There are stories about going from a committed college relationship to casual dating in an unfamiliar city, navigating a toxic work environment, learning how to stay patient in a part of your life that isn't defined by semesters and finals, and tackling the task of making new friends, something you may not have had to do since college orientation.The stories in Freshman Year of Life are just the beginning. There are a multitude of different experiences out there, and one of them will be your own. It's not the end of the conversation; it's the start.Find out how these writers survived their freshman year of life:Aaron Gilbreath . Aileen Garcia . Alana Massey . Alexandra Molotkow . Alison Gilbert . Ashley Ford . Bijan Stephen . Cameron Summers . Carvell Wallace . Chloe Angyal . Emily Gould . Eric Anthony Glover . Gala Mukomolova . Jamie Lauren Keiles . Jason Diamond . Jenny Zhang . Justin Warner . Kevin Nguyen . Kristin Russo . Lane Moore . Laura Willcox . Lauren Wachenfeld . Lincoln Blades . Lori Adelman . Mara Wilson . Mira Gonzalez . Molly Soda . Myisha Battle . Nia King . Nisha Bhat . Paulette Perhach . Sam Zabell . Sarah Mirk . Scaachi Koul . Shannon Keating . Skylar Kergil . Whitney MixterThis book came about through a collaboration with MindSumo.com, an online forum that reaches out to college students to solve business, tech, and design challenges. We asked MindSumo's community of students what book they wanted most upon graduating, and this is it.

Contents PART 1Work and Money The Extra Mile(s) by Alana Massey Stepping-Stones by Alison Gilbert A Story of a Fuck Off Fund by Paulette PerhachThe Ass-Whooping of a Lifetime by Lincoln Blades Wait for It by Chloe Angyal Not Just a Hobby by Molly Soda Useful by Mara Wilson Back-Pocket Feminism by Lori Adelman Thongs Are a Bad Idea and Other Advice by Laura WillcoxWhat to Look for in a Workplace by Nia KingNot for Me by Whitney MixterDoing the Dishes by Emily Gould High Fives for Trying by Eric Anthony Glover PART 2 Home and Belonging Locked Out by Bijan Stephen Moving Back Is Not a Step Back by Nisha BhatOne-Way Ticket to Paris by Shannon KeatingWalking Up Walking Up the Hill by Lane Moore Paper Maps by Kristin Russo Getting Things Going by Aaron GilbreathDomesticity 101 by Justin WarnerGraduate School in Nebraska by Aileen GarciaYou'll Go by Kevin Nguyen Down and Out in Boca Raton by Jason DiamondWalk-In Closet by Alexandra MolotkowOutsider/Insider by Jenny ZhangHomebody by Mira GonzalezPART 3 Love and Relationships Staying in Touch by Sam ZabellSomewhere Between Mountains by Skylar KergilDude of the Year by Sarah MirkAngels at Get Us from Here to There by Gala MukomolovaEverything Is Fine by Jamie Lauren KeilesI'd Rather Die an Ask for Help by Carvell WallaceL Is For . . . by Lauren WachenfeldWhy I Want to Live Like I'm Forty in My Twenties by Ashley FordNot Just Four Walls and a Roof by Cameron SummersHow to Make New Friends as an Adult and Why by Puja PatelI Moved Cross-Country for a Guy by Myisha BattleYou Don't Need More Friends by Scaachi KoulAfterword by Trent Hazy, founder and CEO of MindSumo, Inc. Contributor BiosAcknowledgments