Doctor, doctor, give me the news...

So earlier this week my seniors had a bit of a meltdown. They're graduating soon, you see, and that carries big implications. As one of them put it, so sadly and sweet, "Don't you think I'm sad for having four years of college and still not knowing what's next?"

No, obviously, I don't. I've got a lot more education than that, and a quick scroll through the rantings here will let you know that I don't know quite what's next.

But how nice that they thought I would know - that they'd actually ask for a day of class to talk about these things. And of course, I'm going to give it to them. I'm pretty sure at this point they've earned the right to demand my perspective now and then. The hitch in the matter is the question they've asked is so big, I'm not quite sure what to tell them. In finest academic form (here's what I've learned from my work on University committees), since I don't know what to tell them, I've put off the discussion.

But what I'm hoping is that some of you able-bodied, employed readers will step up with some practical advice to offer my poor, stressed, soon to be grown up monkeys. Looking back at that moment before you were kicked out into student loan debt and nine-to-fives and what-not, what do you wish someone would have said to you? What strategies worked and what didn't?