What's Next?

Plus: Nicholas Thompson on how running helped keep his life from falling apart

Even all these years later, I’ve never forgotten the scene. It was the day I graduated from college, a sunny day in mid-May. I walked with the rest of my class out the doors of the church where the ceremony was held, onto the quad. Families were gathered, food was waiting.

I happened to walk past a classmate of mine talking to his parents. I didn’t “know” know him, we weren’t friends or even acquaintances. But I kinda knew him, in the way you know everyone when you go to school with them.

I only caught a snippet of what he said, but I remember him taking off his graduation cap, cocking back his head and announcing, “you know, back when I was in college…”

Everything about that moment is still fresh in my memory, even though it only lasted a few seconds: the way the light looked, the way his voice sounded, the way everyone laughed.

And I still laugh, even now, writing these words to you. Weren’t we technically still in college, like fifteen minutes before?

The funny thing about that moment is, you don’t feel any different. You don’t feel like you’ve graduated or are about to leave the place you’ve spent the past four years. It doesn’t feel like it’s over.

It’s only later that reality starts to settle in. It dawns on you, maybe it is over. That something really has changed, that it’s time to figure out what comes next.