A gentle reminder that you are becoming…
5 truths about graduates
Yesterday was the first day in my life where I truly felt imposter syndrome. If you are in your final year, I’m sure you have already been bombarded with the overwhelming “What now?” variation of questions. “What are you going to do now?” “What are your plans for the future?” “How do you feel?” etc, etc. While all those questions may have good intentions, it can fuel some doubt in your mind if you aren’t able to answer them directly. Here are five things that you (and I) have to remember during this new phase of life.
You are not unemployed, you are a graduate
I saw this TikTok last year that said, when you graduate, you aren’t on holiday, you are just unemployed. When I saw that last year, it made me laugh. But earlier this year this quote filled me with great anxious emotions as I convinced myself that it was true. But it’s not. You are a graduate. You can even say you are a freelancer until you find the full time work that you are looking for. You are figuring it out and that’s ok. The next time someone asks you what your plans are, respond anything from “I’m figuring it out” or “I’m learning to inhale and exhale at my own pace”.
Your first job is just your first job
This is something Josephine Collins told me as I interviewed her for my final project. She is someone who went down different paths in her career after her degree before becoming an editor and current course leader - I would take her advice. It would be great to leave uni with your dream job, but if that doesn’t happen, it can still happen! Life doesn’t happen on our schedule, but it does come at the right time. So if you find yourself having to do a job that isn’t what you hoped for, there is no shame, only encouragement. Your only job at this time is to hold tight to your dreams until you are living them.
Being a student doesn’t end after uni
If there is one thing you can keep from uni, let it be a student mindset. The freedom to not know and the free will to find out. You don’t need an upcoming assignment to read a book. You don’t need a dissertation to investigate an area of interest. Of course you might not have all the equipment that you had in uni, but you still have you. You still have your beautiful mind that carried you through your student years and will continue to keep you young and active in the years to come.
The value of your degree is not defined by the salary of your current job
It’s so easy to think “what was it all for?” if you don’t have a six figure salary waiting for you as you walk off the graduation stage. Don’t fall into the trap of discounting all your efforts over the past years, the character building, the emotional resilience. The job that is meant for you will find you in due time. You can be working at a bar right now with a degree and still be successful. Uni was more than the paper qualification.
You are allowed to change
This might be the most unspoken one of them all. Your teachers understandably might not want this to be your main thought after spending about 3 years working toward your chosen course. But even if you spent 10 years, you can still pivot. Why? Because it is your life. You are the one thing in life you can control. You can decide what you do, if you leave or stay. You made a decision to study X course for a reason, but as you grow those reasons may change or develop and manifest itself in different ways. You do not want to get to 40, 50, 60 years old and still feel bound to decisions you made when you were 18. You decide what your next steps are.
There is so much more I can say, or even should say. But I am still processing myself and trying to remember these five points. If you read this far it’s probably because you needed to hear this and you already believe it - even if it’s just a little bit. You got this, I believe in you. Make sure to subscribe for updates on new blog posts where I continue to share my own transition from student, to graduate…
