It is no secret that preparing for graduation and post-grad life is hard — the three senior editors at The Flor-Ala know exactly how tough it can be.

One is looking into graduate school, another is searching for a full-time job and one is planning a wedding. The three of them shared their thoughts in a roundtable discussion on graduating and leaving UNA behind.

Q: What’s the strongest emotion you feel when you start to think about graduation?

Blythe: It’s not really an emotion. It’s just more like nausea and being ready to throw up.

Corinne: I feel anxiety because I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I don’t know if I’m making the right decision.

Pace: It’s just a lot of confusion for the most part. It really is hard to make a big decision, because even though it is just deciding what we’re going to be doing for the next few months it feels like we’re deciding what we’re doing for the rest of our lives. The decision feels a lot heavier than any decision we’ve ever made before.

Q: What’s been the hardest part of preparing for the next phase in your life?

Blythe: Trying to balance it with the newspaper.

Corinne: And balancing school. At the same time we’re supposed to be getting straight A’s and showing our future employer, “Look, I can do it all!” but the reality is it doesn’t feel like you should be able to do it all.

Pace: Even more so knowing that you have to dedicate time to thinking about the future. It’s really hard sometimes.

Q: Is it harder to dedicate time because you don’t have the time or because you are afraid to think about it?

Everyone: Both.

Q: Since you’ve been at UNA does it feel like the time has flown by?

Blythe: Sometimes. It’s a weird kind of feeling because I can clearly remember my first day here on campus four years ago, but at the very same time it feels like it’s gone on for a really long time.

Q: What scares you the most about graduating?

Blythe: Ending up on the streets in six months.

Q: So how does it feel that soon you’ll really be adults?

Corinne: My hands are sweating just thinking about it.

Pace: It’s tough, but I honestly feel we’re ready. If my parents were to drop me right now it would suck. It would suck so bad, but I would be able to figure it out. We all would.

Blythe: There are so many people in college already who make it on their own and support themselves. I have no qualms about the three of us supporting ourselves.

Corinne: Man, bump that, I’ve got a cat to support.

Q: Do you have any regrets or things you would have done differently?

Pace: I have no regrets, but I wish I could just go back to school or get a degree in two semesters. There are certain programs at this university that are really great that I would have liked to pursue more in depth than I did.

Blythe: No regrets.

I wish I had done more outside of this office that wasn’t related to the paper. It’s been a good run, but looking back on it there are so many interesting people on campus in other organizations that I wish I had gotten to know while I was here.

Corinne: I’m the opposite. I wish I could have focused on one or two main things because sophomore and junior years my hands were in everything.

I wish I had listened when someone told me that if I slowed down I could probably make my life 10 times easier and sleep more if I would have focused on my own life.

Blythe: Sleep is so overrated.

Q: What is something you wish the seniors you knew last year would have told you about graduation?

Blythe: Oh, they all told me everything. I just didn’t believe them.

Corinne: No one told me anything, because I didn’t have the time to listen to them.

Q: Do you guys have any advice for people that will be seniors this fall?

Pace: No.

Corinne: I would tell them to start (planning) early. I would really sit down (in September), start knuckling down and evaluating what you want to do and how you want to get there.

Blythe: It’s cliché, but it’s not the rest of your life. Take whatever opportunity comes your way because you’re only young once and you’re right out of college.

Pace: You’ve got to prepare as much as you want to work in the future. Make sure you’re thinking about where you want to be and then set little goals. Don’t set the bar low just because you’re scared.