I Finished High School. Now What?

This book is more than just practical advice. It’s about real life and the struggles we all face. It’s about the things we either don’t know or didn’t think to ask about. Your parents can’t teach you everything, and some things have never been second nature for you; however, you can learn. The knowledge you will gain from the information in this book will also teach you some life skills. Someone else has made all the mistakes and struggled for you so that you don’t have to. These details are written down here so that you can start with an advantage. You won’t think to yourself in the future, If I only knew then what I know now.

As we grow older, our thinking becomes more mature, and we start to enjoy different activities. What we used to think of as fun isn’t so much fun any longer. As we change, our attitudes and ways of thinking change with us. Here’s a scripture about growing into an adult that comes to mind. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV).

You will have so many questions about what decisions to make when it comes to college, your career, or other life choices (e.g., credit, buying a home, saving money, needing relationship advice). In this book we talk about all these things and more in detail. The Bible is one book that has teaching on work ethics, life choices, stewardship, and relationships. You will see scripture references throughout this book used to back up the advice along with practical guidance based on people’s personal experiences in each chapter.

I know what it feels like to be as lost as a goose and trying to make the best decisions. This is the most important time in your life and can alter your life’s direction forever. One NewsNow report divulged that roughly 70 percent of Christian college students going off to college end up leaving their faith during their first year on campus. This is one statistic I would like to see much lower. My heart goes out to this age group. There are so many changes right now, and they have many decisions to make. I saw a need for a book with biblical perspective and godly advice to help this age group understand that the choices they are making now have consequences and far-reaching results. You must take life and yourself serious in your endeavors. You must be focused and not scattered, running around aimlessly like a chicken with your head cut off. If you had someone to help you look at your options and tell you what you are getting yourself into, it would make life so much easier. That is what I have tried to do here—to give you all the details in one place so you can succeed at the start and not muddle your way through it.