It can be easy to forget that there is a whole other world out there whilst you live at University. You live in this little bubble of your friends, your social life, your workload, and the odd bit of work and lectures as well!
And, as is the nature of humans, when you do briefly go home for holidays or various different occasions, you adapt quickly and just get used to your surroundings. It’s almost like you’ve never left.
However, that all changes when you actually finish University….
And realise that you now have an entire life to sort out!
In some aspects, it can be great going home after University (provided that’s what you choose to do!). A lot of your friends will be finishing around the same time, you can meet up with them again and go to all your favourite old haunts, and just generally make yourself all cosy at home again.
There’s ample opportunity to search for jobs if you haven’t already found one, share funny stories with family members whilst watching the same rubbish TV you always used to, and convince yourself you’re being far more productive than you really are.
There is also the opportunity to do something else exciting, should the chance arise…house hunting!! And then moving into your previously hunted house!!
No one warns you throughout your whole school or University career just how expensive paying a deposit on a place, or indeed furnishing a new place can be, and everyone certainly leaves out the details of how difficult moving furniture and unpacking can be.
And this is coming from someone whose parents were practically nomads for 90 percent of his life!!
However, you also never get told just how amazing you feel when you do move into a new house, and how great it feels to really make something your own, with your own furniture and distinct style to it, and your own pictures and canvasses on the walls (using nails only, I should add in case my agents or landlord are reading this!!).
Anyway, I am babbling massively, but the point I am eventually going to get around to making is that there are two sides to everything you do when you leave Uni.
And by everything I mean everything. Job hunting. Restarting an old social life or agenda you may have once had. Finding somewhere to live. Developing some sort of end goal.
There is the scary side to all of this, which makes you feel a little bit numb and empty when you leave University and realise all the responsibility you now have as a fully-fledged adult.
But there is the good, happy, rewarding side as well.
And though it may seem daunting at first leaving University, and looking for jobs, and houses, and all of that grown up stuff…. it is well worth it in the end. I am happily settled into my new place, starting my brand new job in September, and I can honestly say that it was worth all the stress, numbness, and frustration that I first felt when trying to sort it all out.
So hang in there. The future shall be bright for us all! 🙂
Worcester Student Life 