post-graduation disillusionment 

Da feeling of "empty letdown after having toiled for nothing" dat you experience as an adult after you'd studied your a** off in grade school about certain strongly-hyped-and-pushed-for-their-supposedly-great-importance subjects (history, science, botany, biology, etc.) other than da "three R's", only to find dat in reality you seldom if ever need any of dat knowledge in your everyday working/home life, and dat others merely stare at you like you're some kinda brainiac nerd when ya mention anything from your vast knowledge of said subjects dat they had long forgotten about or not even bothered to really learn very well themselves in their own school years.

My third-grade teacher always really drove us to learn about da history of San Francisco, yet never once in the ensuing decades have I **ever** hadda use my knowledge of who William Leidesdorff or Amadeo Giannini was --- talk about post-graduation disillusionment!

post-graduation disillusionment by QuacksO March 18, 2019

post-graduation blues 

Commonly known as post-grad depression, this feeling consists of sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, or emptiness experienced by recent graduates due to the significant life changes and pressures of entering adulthood and the workforce.

After the excitement of graduation wore off, I found myself hit hard by post-graduation blues, feeling lost and anxious about what to do next in life.

post-graduation blues by Emotional Cruiser September 23, 2025