Student Life: Lesson 3 - The Graduate
(Me at Graduation)
Well that’s it, I’ve graduated from
Oxford Brookes University, I got my BA, I’ve said all my goodbyes, and now...
well now... well now what? To be perfectly honest I have no idea, graduating is
a strange experience to describe, at first you just feel relief, no more early
morning lectures, no more deadlines, no more late nights in the library adding
the final touches to essays, and finally you can shout to the heavens “it’s
over!” Then comes excitement, you once found yourself looking out the window
envious of those in the sunshine but now you’re out there with friends and a
cheeky mid-day beer, because it’s always six o’clock somewhere right? Suddenly
you have more time than you know what to do with, the world is your oyster and
that’s not to mention the seemingly endless stream of parties that follow your
final exams, it’s just utterly brilliant. However, this high plateaus and is
quickly replaced with worries and insecurities, you begin wonder if you’ll be
able to stay in touch with and continue to meet up with all the wonderful
friends you’ve made at university? Did you take all the opportunities you could
at university? You also begin to feel pressure to find work as soon as possible
so as not to be left behind. If you’re reading this as someone who has also
recently graduated and this blog’s giving you some serious déjà vu, allow me to
share some the experiences I had and lessons I took away from the end of my
life as a student.
Friends?
University is so diverse with
various sport teams, clubs, societies, and courses that finding people with
similar interests and personalities to yourself won’t be hard to do. I myself
made some of my closest friends at university during my first year, when I
moved into my Clivebooth flat, in one of the various Oxford Brookes University
Halls of residence. After unpacking my bags and making my room as homely as
possible I decided to take the plunge and go through to the flat kitchen and
make a point of getting to know all of my other six flat-mates. One by one,
each of my flat-mates walked into the kitchen introducing themselves, one of
whom turned out to come from the same town as me, realising that we actually
knew a lot of the same people, and had even been to the same house party during
the summer, my mind is still completely blown by that coincidence. While all
talking a group of people from the flat across came in and invited us to join
them for pre-drink before heading out to a nightclub, being freshers’ we of
course said “YES!”
Over the following weeks a big
group of us from four flats became a tight-knit group of friends, moving into
shared houses together over second and third years, working through projects
together, introducing other friends to our group, sharing both great drunken
nights and terrible next morning hangovers together, at university you’ll make
a close group of friends who really do become you’re family away from home,
sometimes you’ll want to murder them (looking at you Disun), but you’ll always
end up coming back together. But what happens after university? What happens
when it’s time for you all to move away? Honestly I did worry about this myself
and there’s no way of sugar coating it, you won’t be able to stay in touch with
everyone. But after graduating I found myself getting messages from friends at
university, asking to meet up, organise things, and invitations to parties.
Will things ever be the same? The short answer is no, but you’ll all continue
to stay in touch and meet up, and you’ll never lose the bond and experience you
had at University.
(Celebrating the end of exams!)
Regrets?
Only you can know if you took every
opportunity you possibly could at university, I look back at my time at Brookes
with one or two regrets, but those regrets are only things I wish I had done,
but for the most part I am extremely happy with all the opportunities, risks,
mistakes I had and took during my time at Oxford Brookes. If you’re reading
this as someone looking at joining university, my one piece of advice to you
would be to join as many societies and teams as you can to meet people, go out
and party as much as you can (within reason) to meet more people for a slightly
different reason, and try to do as many things with your friends as you can,
during my time as a student my friends and I went paintballing, had a day at
Ascot, and got to go to Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. Being sensible and
steady is something you’ll have plenty of when you hit 30, so just enjoy it, as
the saying goes, we’re young, dumb, and full of... confidence.
(Left: Ascot, Middle: Paintballing, Right: Ronnie Scott's)
Career
Time?
After graduating it almost seems natural
that now it is time for you to start full time work and get on with your life,
after all isn’t that the point of getting degree? Well at least that is what I
thought, straight after graduation I started looking and applying for jobs, any
job, some of them I had no real interest in pursuing as a career, I even got
the interview stage of a job I no real passion for, but persisted out of fear
of somehow being left behind, and wanting to prove myself as a success. But
please take a long deep breath, there is no race, or anyone’s judgement you
should be concerned with, other than your own. If you know what it is that you
want to do, then focus on that, it is better to have a job that takes you along
a path you want to be on, than one that takes you nowhere, that is the point of
a degree. Of course you’re going to have to do work in the meantime, I’m
currently doing bar work while trying to pursue a career that drives me, but
please don’t rush into anything, if you want to, travelling is still an option,
I know plenty of people with brilliant degrees who have taken this time as an
opportunity to see the World.
At university you know what it is
your supposed to do, your there to get a degree. But after what it is you
should be doing isn’t as clear, but take time and you’ll figure it out, at
Oxford Brookes there is a career’s team constantly on hand to help you if you
feel truly lost. The close friends you’ve made at university you’ll never lose
touch with and will always have the bond of going through university together.
I hope that this blog has given you
a helpful insight into life after university, and as always have an awesome
day!
(Me saying goodbye to Oxford Brookes University)
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