S J WrightI don’t know about you, but for me, University acted as a comfort blanket. Every decision I made I justified with ‘It’s okay, I’m a student.’ I worked part time in a pub, but that was okay, I was a student. I still lived at home, but of course that was to be expected, I was a student.
Once I finished my degree and the days of celebrating my results and my graduation were behind me, panic set in. I was still working in a pub and still living at home, but I was no longer a student. Suddenly the future seemed to stretch out in front of me like a blank canvas and instead of feeling excited, I felt terrified. My one small consolation in the midst of my despair was knowing that I was not alone. While I wasn’t naïve enough to think a fantastic job would immediately fall in to my lap post University, on the flip side, I’m not sure I was fully prepared for the coming months.
It’s been a year since I graduated and I still haven’t found the job that I’m looking for, but the important thing is, I’ve used that year to take steps in the right direction. I have volunteered my writing skills to newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites and I get my name in print wherever possible. I’m currently interning as a Junior Commission Editor which is great experience and adds new skills to my CV.
I guess my advice to those of you who have just graduated and are optimistically looking to the future is this: Keep your optimism. Don’t give up. The future may look scary, but it’s in your control. So get yourself out there, try new things and have a blast!