Remember being a fresher and everything was so new and
exciting, like seriously. I remember getting excited to attend my first
lecture, attend my first fresher's night and meet loads of new people. When third
years told me to enjoy it, I rolled my eyes and shrugged a little bit. Enjoy
what? 'Doesn’t life last like this forever?' No it does not.
A few months after graduating from my degree. I feel
slightly bitter towards students. Like can I have your liver please because my
slightly older body can’t have a sip of alcohol without needed to take the day
off work the next day.
But besides me being bitter about the lack of alcohol I can
now intake since being a graduate. I’m
bitter about feeling so naïve about university life. It was put in my head that
you attend university and you get a good job and you learn real life
experiences. Sadly, you do not. My psychology with sociology degree feels
useless. Even though my job has something to do with my degree, I did not need
my degree to get it. Degrees mean nothing in the world of work. Its half
expected nowadays. Most employees just like you to have a degree, it doesn’t
matter what grade you got or even what it’s in. Life has suddenly flashed before my eyes. I’m now in my twenties, living on my own in a city that none of my family are in. Half of my friends are unemployed feeling like waste of space (even though they are not) and half of my other friends seem to have it all figured out and me, well I feel lost. Yup, being a graduate totally sucks for most people. This is what is known as graduate blues. The advice I usually get is that ‘Being in your 20’s is hard but just plow through’. I now know that most of my friends are feeling the same way and this period of our time is just graduate bluesness. So here are some friendly reminders for anyone who is feeling low:
1. We are ALL making it up as we go along!
It’s ok to not know what the hell
you are doing. Making up small achievable goals will keep you on track.
2. Being broke is totally a part of it and it’s ok to be.
I mean, unless you come from a rich
family who will pay for everything... yeah scrimping and saving is totally
apart of it. Yup, start saving for the rest of your life!
3. You are NEVER alone.
I know that I have lost touch
with several of my friends and on time I feel like the whole world is against
me. But trust me, you aren’t alone. Your friends still care about you as do
your family. You have more people out there than you think.
4. You have plenty of time.
So what if you are not doing a
job in your subject area? So what if you can’t choose what masters you want to
do right now? So what if you’re not travelling around the earth taking awesome filtered
instagramable pictures eh? SO WHAT IF
YOU DON’T KNOW. You have plenty of time to decide what you want to do
5. Your body is not Eighteen anymore.
Gone are the days where you can drink 20 shots, 10 double voddies and coke, 17 pints and still be able to wake up in the morning and attend you’re 9 am lecture without feeling a thing. Nope, it’s ok to be in bed by 10 am and not feel boring. It’s ok to pace yourself. IT’S OK TO BE A LIGHTWEIGHT and it’s ok to want to start taking better care of your body. Plus going to the gym can be used as a hobby to distract you anyway.
6. It’s ok not to be ok.
Yup, you can spend the day crying
your eyes out in your pj’s . It’s ok to do that; If you don’t fall in to the
trap of self-pitying for too long.
7. When one door closes another one opens!
Such a cliché eh? But it’s true.
There are new and exciting opportunities right now and they will find you.
