Two weeks ago, I was among hundreds of my peers dressed in blue robes. As we proceeded around the courtyard at my school, I’ll admit that it felt like a scene from Harry Potter, but it was—obviously—a little less magical and—sadly—a little less dangerous.

As I sat through my commencement ceremony, I thought about the position that my fellow graduates and I were in: a period of great change. For many of us, this time of change may last a long while.

I was reminded of this after the ceremony while at the reception for my faculty. Having been out of school for two months now, there was a lot of catching up to do with my classmates and instructors. I was asked many times what I was now “doing”. The questions felt a lot like an interview, which is good practice for most of us because we’ll be trying to survive interviews in the years to come. Here’s a blog that can help me and any others graduating this year ace any interview.

Some people talked of their dislike for their current job. I have always been torn between whether one should take a job because it pays well, but perhaps doesn’t fulfill a dream or a mediocre-paying job that you love. The more I read, I find writers reinforcing the idea that you’ve got to follow your heart. Without happiness in one’s job, one will not be happy in life. I will keep this in mind for all future endeavors.

I’m currently pretty happy with my job. I’ve written about how I’m working for an environmental organization and have suggested some ways that students can go green in a thrifty way. Well, here’s a blog that has some tips for recent grads — Don’t worry, I think students can use these ideas, too.

I’ve sort of been on a search for life-tips, recently. Over at poorerthanyou.com, it’s suggested that a grad continue to read and write. A grad should never stop learning and communicating. Not only because it can make for a more well-rounded person, but you never know when something may come up in an interview or needed in the workplace.

And here’s blog that has an entire post with tips for the “newly independent”. The site has suggestions on ways to save money on groceries to how to find an inexpensive apartment.

But my most favourite tip has been to not be afraid at something I’m pretty good at: failing. Jeff Nickles at My Super Charged Life says that fear of failure is what often holds people back in life. “My regret usually comes from the things I did not try, not from trying and failing,” Mr. Nickles writes.

This advice is echoed in the words of J.K. Rowling’s recent speech, delivered at a Harvard Graduation. Ms. Rowling says that, while it’s important to strive for success, it’s important to embrace the failure you will inevitably encounter along the way:

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

Ms. Rowling may have enjoyed my convocation because, the entire time, I couldn’t help but think that the President of my school had a very Dumbledore-esque vibe going on. I thought about mentioning that to him as I shook his hand when I crossed the stage—but my notes from this post reminded me that first impressions are everything. Maybe I’ll say something the next time I see him…