10 Years After Graduation: What My 24-Year-Old Self Never Saw Coming

On May 26th, 2016, I graduated from San Jose State University with a BA in Design Studies with an emphasis in Graphic Design. Now, 10 years after graduation, I’ve been reflecting on how much life has changed since that day.

I was 24 years old.

And honestly? I thought I had a pretty good idea of what adulthood would look like after college.

I didn’t.

Here’s what nobody tells you about the 10 years after college: life rarely unfolds in a straight line.

When I graduated from San Jose State, I felt proud of how far I had come already. It had taken me six years to complete college. I started at Las Positas Community College before transferring to SJSU, all while working multiple jobs throughout school. During those years, I worked in retail, customer service, sales, and administrative support roles while trying to balance classes, projects, deadlines, and figuring out who I wanted to become.

At the time, I thought those jobs were simply a way to pay bills while I worked toward my “real” career.

Looking back now, they were quietly shaping me the entire time.

What I Thought Life Would Look Like After Graduation

At 24, I thought success had a timeline.

I thought adulthood meant landing the perfect job quickly, becoming financially stable, and somehow magically feeling confident in who I was and where I was headed.

I thought by my 30s I would have everything figured out.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that your twenties are often less about “arriving” and more about evolving.

The version of success I imagined at 24 looked very different from the version of success I value now at 34.

Back then, success felt tied to titles, timelines, and trying to prove that I was doing life “correctly.”

Now, I think success looks more like resilience.

The Hardest Lessons I Learned 10 Years After Graduation

About six months after graduating college, I was involved in a major car accident that impacted my life in ways I never expected.

Not long after that, life continued throwing challenges my way. There were financial hardships, uncertainty, difficult transitions, and eventually my mom becoming sick and later passing away.

Those years changed me.

There were moments in my twenties where it felt like everyone else was moving forward while I was simply trying to survive and rebuild.

And I think that’s something people don’t talk about enough after college.

Your twenties are not always glamorous. In many ways, mine felt messy, painful, uncertain, and emotionally exhausting.

But I also learned something important during those years: growth and survival can happen at the same time.

Even during the hardest seasons of my life, I was still slowly becoming stronger, wiser, and more capable than I realized.

The Jobs That Quietly Built My Career

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the last 10 years after graduation is that no experience is ever truly wasted.

Before marketing, before content creation, before branding, and before construction marketing, I worked retail jobs throughout college. I worked at places like The Limited, Fox Head, Aerosoles, and UNIQLO. I worked customer service jobs, administrative roles, hospitality positions, and eventually landed my first administrative role after college at a hotel in Pleasanton.

At the time, none of those jobs felt particularly glamorous.

But each one taught me something.

Retail taught me communication, presentation, customer psychology, and confidence. Hospitality taught me patience, multitasking, professionalism, and how to handle high-pressure situations gracefully. Administrative work taught me organization, coordination, and attention to detail.

Eventually, I landed a role at Insight Wealth Strategies, and without fully realizing it at the time, that’s where my marketing journey truly began.

I started working on newsletters, client communication, SEO, website updates, events, social media, CRM systems, and marketing coordination. It was the first time I realized that my graphic design background could evolve into something much bigger than I originally imagined.

That role opened a door I didn’t even know existed.

From there, my career evolved into digital marketing, social media strategy, content creation, branding, copywriting, design work, and eventually proposal and pursuit marketing within the construction industry.

If there’s one thing I would tell new graduates now, it’s this:

Your first job probably will not define your entire career.

And honestly, that’s okay.

Building a Career During Uncertain Times

Like many people, the COVID-19 pandemic completely disrupted my sense of stability.

Jobs became uncertain. The job market became unpredictable. There were moments where maintaining steady employment felt nearly impossible.

So in 2020, I started Tawni Janine Social.

At first, it came from financial necessity. I needed additional income and stability during a time where everything felt uncertain.

But over time, it became something much more meaningful to me.

It became creative freedom, confidence, and proof that I could build something of my own.

While balancing full-time jobs, I continued growing my freelance business, working with clients across social media marketing, graphic design, branding, content creation, and strategy. There were moments where business felt steady and seasons where it didn’t. There were moments where clients came and went, and moments where I questioned myself.

But I never gave up on it.

And even now, 10 years after graduation, I’m still learning, growing, and evolving creatively every single day.

One of the most rewarding parts of freelancing has been seeing businesses grow and knowing I played a small role in helping them get there.

The Personal Milestones That Meant the Most 10 Years After Graduation

As much as career growth shaped my twenties and early thirties, some of the biggest milestones in my life had nothing to do with work.

On April 19th, 2019, I moved into my first apartment completely on my own.

Before that, I had always rented rooms. I either had housemates or lived with landlords. So having my own apartment for the very first time felt like freedom, independence, and peace all wrapped into one.

A few months later, on July 21st, 2019, I adopted Toby.

At first, Toby represented companionship. But over time, he became healing, unconditional love, comfort, and stability during some of the most difficult years of my life.

And then, on April 22nd, 2025, I closed on my first home.

Buying a home alone in the Bay Area at 33 years old was one of the proudest moments of my life.

Not because it looked impressive online.

Not because it checked some societal milestone.

But because of everything it represented.

It represented hard work, uncertainty, rebuilding, and the slow process of creating stability for myself.

Not everyone can buy a home alone, especially in the Bay Area. And for me, there was something deeply emotional about knowing that my home was truly mine.

What 10 Years After Graduation Taught Me About Success

Looking back 10 years after graduation, I realize how much my definition of success has changed. At 24, I thought success meant having everything figured out. At 34, I think success looks very different.

To me, success now looks like adapting when life changes unexpectedly. It means continuing to move forward even when your timeline doesn’t match everyone else’s. Sometimes success is rebuilding after difficult seasons. Other times, it’s growth that happens slowly, quietly, and invisibly.

Success looks like learning who you are outside of job titles, timelines, and expectations.

And maybe most importantly, success looks like not giving up on yourself.

What I’d Tell New Graduates Now

One of the biggest realizations I’ve had 10 years after graduation is that nobody truly has adulthood fully figured out.

If I could tell new graduates anything, it would be this:

You are not behind.

Your life does not need to happen on anyone else’s timeline.

Your career will probably evolve. Over time, your priorities may shift too. Most importantly, you’ll continue changing and growing as a person.

Some seasons of life will feel exciting and full of momentum. Other seasons will feel uncertain and heavy.

That doesn’t mean you’re failing.

Sometimes adulthood is simply learning how to keep going while slowly becoming the person you’re meant to be.

Ten years after graduation, I still don’t have everything figured out.

But I’ve learned that maybe adulthood was never about having all the answers.

Maybe it’s about learning how to grow through every version of yourself along the way.

Ten years after graduation, I’m still growing, learning, evolving, and becoming a newer version of myself.

And honestly? I think that’s the whole point.