Dear Devil’s Advocate,

I am a senior in college who is graduating this coming May. I had a very good college experience and did well in all my classes, but now I’m terrified that I have no idea what to do with my life.

It seems like everybody else my age has their whole life planned out and I have nothing. What should I do?

—Completely Lost

Dear Lost,

I’m going to let you in on a not-so-little secret. All those people whom you say have it all “planned out” are really only about 5 percent of your fellow classmates. The other 95 percent is in the same exact boat that you are in.

There’s a time when every college student begins waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat over the terrifying image of being 45 years old, still living at home, with the permanent job title of cashier at the Dairy Barn (Dairy Barn may be substituted with any other fear-inducing place of employment).

Graduating from college and making your start in the “real world” is a huge transition. However, it is a transition that many people have successfully made before you. As nerve racking as it is, do not agonize over making plans for the future. As long as you’re willing to put a little effort in, everything will fall into place eventually. Every day, thousands of unprepared people join the work force. What makes you think you can’t be one of those lucky folk?

Of course, you can always try to delay the inevitable leap into the “real world.” Employment at the Dairy Queen is one solution-.and there’s always grad school as well. Or, you could take a few months to travel or intern to figure out where you want your life to go next.

Dear Devil’s Advocate,

I just started college this semester and I happen to be in two classes with a girl I’ve started to develop a major crush on. She’s beautiful and very popular. I am way too intimidated to start a conversation with her and she’s never made any attempt to make one with me. She seems like she’s a really nice person though and I thought that maybe I would have a chance with the right guidance. What do you think?

—Too shy to talk

Dear Too shy,

The chances of you and this girl getting together are slim to none. Sure, I don’t know everything about the situation, but I can pretty much guarantee that if this girl were at all interested in you, she would have made some attempt to talk to you by now. The fact that she hasn’t should be enough incentive for you to set your sights elsewhere.

Don’t be too bummed out, though. You didn’t know this girl at all. Your whole “she seems like a nice person” bit could quite possibly be completely wrong. She could be an awful person or the spawn of Satan, for all you know (Making gross exaggerations such as this one makes the sting of rejection just a little bit easier to bear. Go on, try making one yourself. You won’t be disappointed).

Got questions? Need answers? E-mail your problems to Devil’s Advocate at [email protected].