Now you’ve graduated, what next?

About two years ago, I resigned from my job in Lagos, packed my bags, said goodbye to my family and friends, and got on a one-way flight to the US to begin grad school. I wrote an article about this move and since then, it has been an exciting ride.

Fast forward to 24 months later, I walked across the commencement stage last weekend to receive my Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Denver.

A lot has changed in this time, and to be honest, I didn’t know exactly what I was signing up for when I decided to go to grad school 😂. I usually said I was bored, then, and wanted something more challenging, however, nothing prepared me for what a challenge I was about to face. Boy, was I really challenged!!

In these two years, I have learned a lot, grown, made mistakes, met the best people, laughed, shed some tears, traveled a lot, struggled, and had amazing experiences in between. Grad school was tough, but one thing I’ve always tried to do regardless is constantly share my knowledge and support people around me. During these two years, I’ve written articles published here on my blog ranging from tech and topics I learned in school, to useful tips for grad school, as well as general career articles. 

Due to all I was going through in the last months of grad school, I faltered in publishing articles according to schedule; but now that that phase is over, I’m definitely going to push out all the articles and ideas that have been patiently sitting in my drafts. 

Well, as the title of this article reads, now that I’ve graduated, what next?

Tbh, maybe I should say nothing…?

Okay, I’m just kidding.

Nonetheless, one thing that I’m always going to do is not let anyone “what next?” me into chasing a new goal without first reveling in my new phase(s). Celebrating with my loved ones over the weekend was the perfect start to my celebration spree. About ten amazing people in my life flew across cities, countries, and even continents to celebrate with me, and a lot more lovely people who couldn’t make it down here sent all their love and celebrated with me over the phone. I’m so thankful to have these people in my life, who look out for me, support me, cheer me on, and shower me with so much love. 

That being said, in the next months, after a much-needed break and settling into this new phase properly, I’ll be sharing some more articles on things I learned and my projects in school, getting started in research, how to prepare for graduation, and even some travel tips. 

I’m really excited for what’s next—a more focused direction for this blog, and every other project I intend to roll out in the next couple of months. I look forward to having you on this journey and thank you so much for sticking with me throughout these years. As usual, if you have any suggestions, comments, questions, or article ideas, please drop a comment below or send an email to: contactaniekan at gmail dot com. I would really appreciate that. 

Thank you for reading. 

Aniekan 

P.S.: Here are some more pictures from my graduation commencement ceremony last weekend. 

Enjoy!