A Pep Talk for 2025 College Graduates, From a Millennial Creator
- UpRising Editors
- May 19
- 3 min read
[THE MAIN EVENT]
After the graduation parties end, you might feel dejected by the job market. But don't panic. I, too, graduated into recession conditions. You're gonna be alright.
College commencement season always makes me nostalgic. It’s a time that brings out all of the feels—accomplishment, elation, wistfulness. Seniors around the country are graduating throughout this month, including on Sunday at my local HBCUs in the A: Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse, and Spelman College. But for all of that joy, I’m sure many are feeling an underlying angst as they matriculate during an uncertain time. As a millennial, I can relate.
It feels like just last week I was tossing my tassel to the side at Howard University in Washington, D.C. What a time: In May 2007, “Cupid Shuffle” had just dropped, iPhones were weeks away from hitting consumers’ palms, and a recession and a Barack Obama presidency were loading simultaneously. America was in flux, but I wasn’t asleep at the wheel. I stepped off Howard’s campus and into the real world with excitement—and some anxiety.
Jobs were disappearing, word to that Marvel blip. As a journalism major, I watched the media industry shift from print to digital. Fellow creatives and peers in other fields also struggled to find work, with each news report of mass layoffs or the housing market crash more discouraging than the one before. And for all of the fervor of America’s first Black president taking office, the idea of a post-racial society always felt like a fantasy.
It was unnerving at the time, but that changing landscape presented, for many, an opportunity. Bloggers who felt like music industry outsiders harnessed the power of the internet to find their lanes. They became a new class of digital gatekeepers—and kingmakers. Armed with merely their internet connections and Wordpress-hosted sites, these self-made A&Rs crowned the likes of Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa, and Kendrick Lamar as music's next up, themselves DIY phenoms.
Creators with big TV and film dreams blazed their own trails as well. Issa Rae sidestepped the traditional Hollywood model and got herself poppin’ in 2011 by creating her own web series, The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, which served as a prototype for Insecure five years later. Vine was King Bach's spaceship. Quinta Brunson built her buzz through Buzzfeed. The throughlines for all three were dedication, consistency, and undeniable talent.
For me, I embraced online journalism during stints at traditional magazines like XXL and new web destinations like Genius. And spoiler alert: The economy turned around (albeit slowly).
It’s wild outside for today’s graduates—perhaps even more so than when I walked the stage at Howard. But don’t feel like all hope is lost. If your dorm days are ending, savor the memories, and don’t stress about what awaits on the other side. Consider this transitional moment a chance to make your mark and carve out your place. Embark on the real world with as much enthusiasm as you had during Freshman Week. Look to the future and find what will catapult you beyond the clouds in that direction. Do your own thing. Trust yourself. You're gonna be better than alright. You got this.
This weekend, though, is about celebration. You did your big one! Enjoy yourself. Be merry. And, for my sake, make sure you get at least one “Cupid Shuffle” line dance going.
— John Kennedy
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