You know the well known term, ‘post-nut clairty’? In simple terms, after a guy finishes from sex, he supposedly finds his one-night-stand ugly. That’s how I’d describe leaving university, I was enjoying it, literally having the time of my life. Then I reached the climax (graduating), and now I find post-uni life ‘ugly’.
I can’t help but reminisce on the past, I physically cannot bare to look at the present.
I ‘graduated’ from university months ago. So, I’m not going to sugar coat post-uni life, I’d be lying to myself and everyone reading this. I’ve seen countless pieces trying to be positive about it, and it’s just not that.
I spent the last three years, 1,095 days, and 262,80 hours as a university student. These were, hand on heart, the BEST years of my life. Each day I had a purpose, I’d wake up, head to lectures and seminars, work, study, and spend quality time with my friends. Of course, the first half sounds dire, but to me, that was something I really was passionate about - waking up each day and putting all my efforts into learning a subject I love.
There’s nothing bad about growing up. I am getting closer and closer to a point in my adulthood where everything is slowly becoming level and balanced. It’s not sounding too exciting to you, but trust me.
I don't really have much advise to offer, sorry, but I hope I can offer some comfort in saying I can relate to this SOO much. I absolutely loved university, the social aspect of course but I enjoy studying too. I also spent the summer after uni with my friends in my uni town and so I felt like I crashed from a massive high.
These past few months I haven't felt like my best self, I felt such immense pressure to decide what I should do here and now. And it's been super tricky with covid always changing the climate. I also live in Cornwall, so that also makes it tricky to see my university mates and is basically a no go for the mo.
I have however tried to view this period, as a lower point of life. Life is always fluctuating between highs and lows and it just means something better is coming. I also recently heard someone relate to highs/lows of life with the analogy that "in life you have periods when you're running (super busy, social, go go go) and other parts where you're walking (slower pace, not as many things going on). Use those slower periods to recharge you for the next running stage.
I can completely relate to this. I think the biggest change for me was not seeing my friends everyday and not having as much freedom as before. It kind of felt like my whole life got turned upside down
This was such an interesting take. I've found that 80% of grads aren't really happy with what they're doing after university so you're definitely not alone. I often dreamed about the 'real world' and work life, how I would be able to clock out at 5 instead of working through the night but that wasn't the case at all, I'm probably more busy now than I've ever been - or at least, lazier, and therefore doing much less.
The only thing I'm thankful for is actually enjoying my job while everyone around me either hates theirs or is at least planning on leaving because they're not as fulfilled. How are you finding yours?