I was lucky enough to land a full-time job before graduating from college. But I wasn't prepared for the real world.
Graduating and starting a full-time job created emotional loss, reduced social freedom, and difficulty adjusting from college routines to adult responsibilities.
I'm a first-year medical student at Stanford. From working on cadavers to 12-hour lecture days, this is what a week in my life is like.
Starting medical school at Stanford involves intense coursework and cadaver labs, homesickness for family across the country, and forming a supportive new community.
Families increasingly outfit dorm rooms luxuriously to reduce homesickness, prompting concerns about cost, inequality, and the role of separation in the college experience.