Life after graduation 🎓
Hi friends! I hope you’ve had a great week so far. I just came back from my holiday in Italy, and I’m excited to get back to work again. Fun fact. I’m actually closing up on my first year of working full time this month. It's crazy how fast time flies!
I felt this was a perfect opportunity to write about all the thoughts and feelings I was experiencing last year at this time. Hopefully it can help you out if you’re graduating soon yourself, and feel a bit lost and confused about it all.
Maddie xx
She’s working on… graduating 👩🏼🎓
Graduating from uni is a weird feeling. While attending your final lecture, handing in your final essay and writing your final exam is exciting. It’s strange knowing that the life and routine you knew - the one you’ve been doing for years, is coming to an end. Even scarier is thinking about what life will actually be like once you graduate.
Sometimes we get carried away by what those around us feel or have planned for life after uni. That was at least the case for me. Many of my friends had already secured 2-year graduate schemes or been accepted into new degrees by the time we did our final exams.
Personally, I didn’t feel ready to jump into a full-time corporate job or degree. I needed a year to digest the past 16 years of studying I had just completed. I also didn’t know what field of work I wanted to get into, or what kind of masters I potentially wanted to pursue.
But planning to go into graduate life not knowing how things would play out was scary. Not only because I knew life would look very different to what it did while at uni. But also because, for the first time in my life, I didn’t know what the next step was.
Reflecting back on my experience of graduating a year ago, I know I was not the only one feeling this way. So many of my friends with jobs and graduate schemes have told me how they also felt confused, worried and anxious about the future.
Knowing that, you realise that there’s no point in comparing yourself to others. Even though many of those around you may seem to have their futures in check, I can assure you most don’t! We’re all just trying to figure it out as we go, and it’s okay to feel a bit anxious about it.
That being said, here are some potential paths to consider after university if you’re as confused as I was last year. And some tips that, hopefully, will help you clarify your ideas.
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If you are clear about the path you want to take - start applying to jobs! Some of my favourite pages for finding and applying to jobs are Linkedin and Indeed.
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If you’re interested in further studies, make sure you do your research first. Would you like to pursue a course in the field you graduated in to expand your knowledge? Or learn about something that will better equip you for your future career? It’s also important to consider whether you have enough motivation to pursue another degree.
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Ahh the infamous gap year. A lot of people believe taking “time off” after graduating should be discouraged. But having just completed a gap year myself, I find this to be a misconception. Taking a gap year was a game changer for me. It allowed me to try different things and reflect on what I actually wanted to do with my life.
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Do you have a skill that you believe other people would pay you for? Perhaps photography, graphic design, social media management or similar. Open up an account on Fiverr, send out a few cold call emails and try your luck!
Here are my best tips for new graduates
1️⃣ Manage your money wisely. Adopting the 70/20/10 budget can help, especially if it’s your first time earning and delegating your own money. Make sure you start saving for the future. Open a rainy day fund, save for your pension and consider starting to save for your mortgage or investing.
2️⃣ Try a course. If you feel unsure about what you really enjoy doing or want to do in the future, try shorter 1-3 month courses. These are helpful for you to dip your toes into new fields and topics and see if it's something you like.
3️⃣ Don’t stress it. As I wrote in the beginning of this section, everyone is equally worried and confused about their graduate life. Even those who seem to have it all in check!
My favourite things
Here’s some of my favourite things I’ve recently read, watched and listened to!!
🚰 Product: My larq water bottle. My boyfriend gifted this to me for Valentines day, and I’ve been using it for all travels and trips since. The best part, it cleans itself!
🎙Podcast: Dua Lipa: At Your Service. I’ve been listening to her interviewing people like Pedro Almodovar or Amelia Dimoldenberg from Chicken Shop - it’s really entertaining!
📱App: Google app. I used the camera and translation feature on the Google app almost every day while in Italy. It’s genious to translate simple things like menu’s, signs and more!
📘 Book: Conversations about love. Read this one while in Italy, and thought the stories and chapters were really cute. Also super easy to read - perfect for days at the beach.
