Did anyone else come out of uni and just... not have a bloody clue what to do with themselves? In a couple of weeks it'll be the 2 year anniversary since I graduated and I can't exactly say I've made the most of my degree...
For the first year and a half I just did NOTHING. Before this my life was predictable, I just rolled with it - when I finished school, I thought "Okay, I guess I'll go to college now" then when I finished college I thought "Okay, I guess I'll go to uni now" then when I finished uni "...Okay, now what the hell do I do?"
I'm the sort of person who never had to take charge of his own life because he had the support of friends out of the house and family in it, so when I saw people looking for part-time jobs in school/college I'd laugh at th concept because I had the bank of mum and dad, and when I heard that my friends' parents made them do things like ironing and cooking for themselves, I'd laugh because it was always done for me. As you can guess, I was absolutely raised in the comfy corner, So when I finished uni, I didn't have an automatic next step and life was DARING to suggest I start taking charge of my life for the first time, needless to say it was WAY out of my comfort zone.
To those of you graduating this year, let me tell you that social media is your WORST enemy after you graduate - we all have these little expectations as to how graduate life will be and it never sticks entirely to what we plan it to be. You'll see your friends going out and doing things, whether it be getting new jobs or getting engaged/married and essentially starting their life off properly and if you aren't doing exactly the same, seeing other people do things while you don't is the WORST.
I felt horrible seeing and hearing what all my friends were up to and I slowly fell into a horrible rut - I wanted to get out there, be working and be making something of myself but I had very little motivation to do so other than "Well, it's something to do..." and even though a lot of people would like this, it didn't exactly help that my parents were putting next to NO pressure on me to get off my **** and get a job.
I was looking, but I was half-arsing it. We all know how boring and tedious applying for jobs is, and often it's all for naught. Well, picture this - you're sat in your room, knowing you have to be applying for jobs. This is a repetitive and soul-crushing process especially when you know you most likely aren't going to get it. Also, you're about to do this in your room, where you're surrounded by all of your games consoles, DVDs and books. Tell me, what sounds more appealing?
One of the girls from my course got a 2:2 and has had about 3-4 jobs since we graduated, on the flip side I got a 1st and nobody seemed to want to hire me. Stuff like this, combined with the fact I wifely almost guilty seeing my friends who were all at work/uni/college where as I was doing nothing, you can see how crap that would make me feel? I had so little self-esteem and motivation that I couldn't bring myself to keep looking for jobs even though that seemed the most likely fix, it was an endless circle.
Well thankfully things aren't as bad now. I have a job now in a theatre as a barman - it's only casual but it's better than nothing, and it's alright for what it is, the pay is good and the other staff are nice. I've seen other people graduating since who have had similar experiences and it's honestly refreshing to see, though I would still like things to improve - I have very little independence and I'm still just living at home and working whenever.
I guess my issue is I don't really have anything I'm working towards. When I was at uni I was working to get a degree, what am I working towards now? Yeah, I'm earning money but not enough to get my own place. I'm just existing, and it sucks...