The University bubble. For 3 years of your life you live in a semi-holiday state of bliss surrounded by friends, Dominoes vouchers and empty bottles of wine, with the odd annoyance of a lecture twice a week and a few assignments sprinkled in for additional moments of joy. Whilst these assignments and exams are stressful at the time its only once you've left Uni that you think... "shit!"
Your 3 years are up and you are unceremoniously tipped out of your life and back into your childhood bedroom, surrounded by 3 years of stuff and a tonne of teddy bears from when you were a kid. Your mum goes back to making your dinners and doing your washing and for the first fortnight it's great.
"Fantastic, I can finally relax. No exams or assignments I can spend my days as I like!"
But no.
Week three sets in and so does the boredom. Suddenly you realise that you're getting short on money and there's no student loan left to receive. Reality kicks in.
Jobs, Jobs,JOBS.
The never-ending cycle of searching, reviewing, applying, only to be completely ignored. On the off chance you get an interview you prep yourself as much as possible and inevitably find out it's not the job for you or that your not the applicant for them.
So how do you survive this never ending cycle of frustrating and unfortunate events?
Step 1: Remind yourself it's not you. You've worked your ass of for 3 years and you WILL get that job, just be patient and stay objective.
Step 2: Don't obsess over Job hunting. Restrict yourself to 2 days a week and dedicate those days. It doesn't make any sense to apply to every new job every day. You can still apply to the same jobs a few days later and it's beneficial for your mental health not to obsess over Reed 8 hours a day. (Trust me!)
Step 3: As frustrating as it is not having money and feeling like you need a job for some structure in your life, try to enjoy the time off! This will be the last time (probably until you retire) that you don't have to answer to anyone but yourself. You don't have a boss, clients or commitments. Enjoy your freedom. Spend a day in the sunshine and paint. Go on a random adventure in the countryside. Binge watch a TV series you've been meaning to watch. The best thing is if you only allow yourself to job hunt 2 days a week, you have 5 days to enjoy life. You only live once, make the most of it!
Step 4: When you panic, which you inevitably will, repeat the steps. It's not you, only job hunt twice a week, Enjoy your freedom. This period of time is stressful but it's not permanent and this time next year you will be wishing for the free time you have now! Enjoy yourself!
So that's my after University life plan. I've been down in the dumps for a few weeks now, stressing over the instability in my life, but I've decided to embrace the chaos, enjoy the freedom and make the most of the spare time I have.
What's your post-uni survival plan?
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