I graduated earlier this year, in February to be exact. Yay! Wohoo! Congratulations are in order! Or is it so straightforward? Of course it is awesome, and I feel a huge relief that I managed to write my master’s thesis and also finish all my studies in target time.
But graduating is also a huge leap of faith. I had gotten so used to being a university student, going to lectures and doing essays with a cup of coffee beside me, in my own peace and quiet and discussing all the student life stuff with the friends I made along the way. Now when I find myself having to wake up at 5:45 am every weekday and be overly social in my job, it’s exhausting. To be frank, I loved being a student and all the things that came with it (okay being penniless wasn’t always great, but I was used to it, too).
Now that I am working full time, at a job that I’m qualified for, I realize that graduating is a huge deal. My everyday life has changed completely. I was working this job even before I graduated (I’m very lucky), but now that my life doesn’t consist of balancing work and studies, I feel incredibly weird. I was acting nonchalant like “okay yay, just graduated”, as if it was just another normal day. No it wasn’t! It was huge.
And you know why? I was so concentrated on finishing my studies, I didn’t realize that I had to think about what comes next. Sure, I’ll go to work. But where? When? Why? I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I kind of just ended up somewhere. I still don’t know what I would love to do. Therefore, I have no idea what comes next for me when my current job ends in June.
There is so much pressure to graduate “on time” and the sooner the better – from the government, from the university, from our parents, from possible employers – that it very well might affect our mindset in a way that graduating is our only goal. I imagine it’s quite different depending on your degree, but I definitely felt the pressure as an arts major. I also felt pressured to find a job as quickly as I can, so that I wouldn’t become the notorious stereotype of an arts student who’ll end up unemployed. Now I realize that maybe there’s a reason for the almost inevitable unemployment period: many of us who aren’t specifically trained for a profession, don’t really know what we want to do after graduation or how we will reach that goal. And maybe some of the students who are trained for a profession, don’t either.
Most of the university students I’ve talked with about this subject are on the same page. They are not sure what it is that they’d like to pursue, or their aspirations have changed during the years at uni. That should be okay, we’re still learning about ourselves in our young adult years.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is, make the most of the years you have in college, university or any other learning institution. Try new things, and try to focus on finding your specific interests, even outside your curriculum. Taking courses based on whether it will help you get employed is of course important too, but pair those courses with some wild cards as well. And use those opportunities to stay up late in the weekdays now you still can! And brace yourselves, the uncertainty of life is real. But I’m still rolling, so I guess it’s not that bad. And if and when you do find something you want to pursue, fixate on making a plan how you get there. …And maybe also make a plan what you’ll do after that, too.