Leaving University

Hi there, 2020 graduate here. 2020 was NOT the year the graduate. It was tough having to finish my final year of university during a national lockdown with no face to face help from my academic professors or even my peers. If I needed my supervisor, I had to call her on Skype. I had to email professors for help, if I needed assistance from my peers, I had to call them or video chat. A lot of my work in my final year was group based so I had no choice. This make it harder to complete the year? Definitely! It was incredibly difficult. I struggled like crazy and I had many moments where I thought, I want to give up. But then I pulled myself together and said to myself, I've been studying for almost three years, I can do 3 more months to get my degree; and those three months were three of the hardest I have ever had to go through. There was a lot of tears, a lot of having to call mum for moral support and finally, a lot of work.

Now my entire idea for my grad project went out the window when lockdown hit. I was meant to be making a documentary, I ended up making a video series. I had to make do with the equipment I had, which was none! Come on a media student, in a national lockdown, unemployed with very little student loan left? I had no money to buy expensive equipment. So I used my phone. Everyday for three months, I set my phone up on my windowsill and filmed myself, documenting myself throughout a lockdown as my project. Was this what I wanted to produce? No. Was this the best thing I could make? Definitely not, but I had to adapt and that's what I think this pandemic has taught me and so many others.

We have had to learn how to adapt in most aspects of our everyday lives when this all started. Even the simple act of wearing a mask. We now leave your houses and do the mental checklist of "Keys, wallet, mask". We've had to put limits on ourselves, had to figure out how working from home fits into our lives and so much more. It hasn't been easy, but it has taught us how quickly the human race can adapt.

Now when leaving university, I had a fear settle in me. I feared so much. How am I going to get a job within my industry in a pandemic? Am I going to get a job in general? When can I see my family? How do I go into the working world as an adult? All regular questions for new graduates. It's a difficult transition but so rewarding. I have never felt more independent than I do now, 8 months after graduating. I live with my partner, I'm on the search f0r a job after leaving my old job and I am independent within myself. Leaving my job did create a slight amount of stress but I realised my mental health was more important than any job. I am being proactive in my job search and I am even en route to create my own small business. I started illustrating, a skill I learned in university and I sell designs. It's something that fulfills me and makes me incredibly happy to be doing.

So the main question, is leaving university as liberating as everyone says it is? The answer is yes. You already gained that independence when you decided to move away to university and you taking that extra step to move forward with your life and career and support yourself, gives you the feeling of being self sufficient. It's the best decision I ever made.