Graduation.

It’s the cheese at the end of a long maze known as college, the holy grail earned after years of sleepless nights and countless assignments.

But as I find myself bustling through my last semester of college, there’s a schizophrenic panic that’s slowly overtaking me.

Where will I go? Can I find a job?

The world may be wide open in front of me, but the infinite horizon is every bit as terrifying as it is exciting.

Truth be told, I’ve never really thought much past graduation.

What’s occurred to me after 5 years of strain and constant learning is that college isn’t about getting that perfect job.

It’s not about working for the coveted 4.0 GPA or reaching a level of elitism.

It’s about growing up, working your way out of new and confusing situations.

It’s about using tools you are given to make the world a better place.

It’s about meeting complete strangers and turning them into friends.

Professors have warned me how tough the job market is.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported unemployment at 10.4 percent at the end of February, news that expecting graduates don’t want to hear.

In a world that will exhaust you and promise you no guarantees, it’s hard to graduate with any sort of optimism.

What most professors fail to tell their students, though, is that they have the upper hand.

Technology is moving at a blistering pace.

My generation is right there moving along with it, learning about new skills before they are even implemented in the classroom.

Compound that with the social and adaptive skills that every college student needs to earn a degree, I’d wager that recent grads have more to offer than they’re told.

So when I walk down that long aisle after my name is called out, when I look out over the crowd of my fellow graduates, there will be comfort in knowing that I made it through and learned more than just what’s written on a piece of paper.

The past five years have given me enough experience to know I can make it in the real world, even if I don’t get that perfect job.

E-mail the author: Will Axford