Tunnel at the End of the Light?
With just a few exam and deadline straggelers left, it can be hard to know how to transition into the next phase. Phill Clayton, a Uni Graduate, looks back on how he leapt from student to young professional.
In many ways my University experience was not the norm. In my time at Uni I never went to a gig at the Octagon, never went to FRUK, Pop Tarts, or Juice, never got drunk, never watched Neighbours, never did an all nighter, never woke up after 10am, never lived in Halls and never missed a lecture not once! I realise by saying this I have just alienated 99% of students reading this but for those of you still with me, allow me to share with you three lessons from the life of a graduate!
Finish Well
Graduation was a doorway into limbo for me. It was the end of an era, and the start of a painful, frustrating void. Much like post modernity! I had come out of one system and stumbled into another, not really knowing what it was, or how to define it! What was I to do? I fell out of University after Graduation to the realisation that I had no means of paying rent or buying food. No more student loans, no more overdraft and worst of all, no more cheap cinema trips! The real world can seem to rush up on you very fast.
Life outside the student bubble was interesting to say the least I went from being a student to being unemployed to being treated like a high flying business man all in one month! I didn't know what I wanted to do so I applied for everything. I had a random assortment of interviews from marketing to gardening, until I got a job being trained as personal banking advisor. I then found myself on a first class train staying in first class hotels and eating first class food! But after six months I realised that I was not at all happy with banking! My first year was a bumpy ride because while at Uni I was too busy living in the moment that I had lost sight of the future – a mistake many of us make.
So, never be so busy with the now that you lose sight of where you are going. Some people say that life is about the journey but I believe it is also about the destination. Without the destination, the journey is meaningless. You don’t plan a holiday for the ten hour car ride! It’s about the sun, sea and sand! Remind yourself of the destination that you went to Uni for! There doesn’t need to be a detailed five-year plan but a wise man once said “If your not going somewhere you are going nowhere fast!”
Don’t Stall - Get Into Gear
The student bubble is a very comfortable place to be. You taste freedom from parental control and have more money that you have ever had before. Banks offer interest free overdrafts and the government offers student loans. You have no-one to answer to except yourself, no-one chases you to be at lectures or hand in work, if you don’t do it you’re the only one who is effected. Then you collide with the real world - where your actions affect the team you work with and your future.
Most people panic and either move back with parents or get a graduate loan and go travelling! They stall their lives, tread water and ask the same question they where desperately trying to answer three years earlier - what do I want to do?! Really we should get ourselves in gear and start going somewhere. Embrace these questions but be on the move too! You may find yourself questioning your initial plans and even what you’re here for. Many students find they have a change of direction and even find a new faith along the way. When faced with a scary situation or new challenge my number one rule is never to shrink back but to always step up and get stuck in. You never learn anything by backing down. The key is to start doing something, shake off your apathy and fear of insecurity and get stuck in to life.
The Best is Yet to Come
My pappy always said that your university years are the best years of your life. Well, if this is the case what am I living for now? Is the rest if my eighty-something years simply winding down! NO! The best is yet to come - the best is always yet to come.
My dad has just retired; I think he does more now that he ever did! He writes books, helps in the community and travels around speaking and teaching. Life never winds down it is always being wound up and getting better.
University years are amazing and the student bubble is to be enjoyed and lived to the full taking advantage of all the student discounts, opportunities and possibilities it has to offer. But, everything you do is preparing you for the best that is yet to come. Have an attitude that looks to the future with hope and expectancy always thinking the best, always dwelling in the realm of possibility and you will find you live with a smile on your face looking for the next best thing. Remember the past, live in the present, look to the future. And remember if you find yourself asking questions – dare to explore the answers, this may just turn out to be the best year of your life.