Life After Uni
Back in early 2017 finishing university was a daunting concept for me. It meant no more getting discounts everywhere I went, no more living with my best friends in a cheap but amazing house, no more doing what I wanted when I wanted, and most importantly; no more being able to get away with living off of student finance and a part-time job.
I finished university without a whole lot of money in the bank which became the deciding factor for me to move back to Belfast and back in with my family. With the type of degree that I have I knew that I wouldn't be able to just waltz into a graduate job or potentially even something remotely similar. It's one of those degrees where you need to have a couple of other things under your belt to go along with it such as work experience and also a post-grad degree or two wouldn't go amiss.
Moving back home was hard. I was moving away from my friends, my boyfriend, the city that I loved and also away from the independent life that I had began to set up for myself.
I found the first couple of months especially difficult because I wasn't able to get a job as fast as I wanted either, meaning that I had a lot of free time to bury myself deep in my own little emotional world. Post-uni depression soon set in and every dream or aspiration that I once had seemed as if they had just been snatched away from me. I didn't know how to live in this city anymore and so I didn't know how to go about trying to achieve my dreams.
After about 3 months I eventually managed to get a full-time job in a shoe shop and my life started turning around. It meant that I had a purpose to fill my days and I was able to earn money and start saving up to move back to Derby. Even though it's not exactly what I wanted to be doing I just kept reminding myself that it was only temporary and after-all, I was only 21 (at the time)!
I found the first couple of months especially difficult because I wasn't able to get a job as fast as I wanted either, meaning that I had a lot of free time to bury myself deep in my own little emotional world. Post-uni depression soon set in and every dream or aspiration that I once had seemed as if they had just been snatched away from me. I didn't know how to live in this city anymore and so I didn't know how to go about trying to achieve my dreams.
I've struggled mentally and emotionally with a lot of things since finishing uni, for example; not being able to use my degree straight away, having to adjust to being in a long-distance relationship, and also not having quite the same amount of freedom and independence as I was used to.
In complete honesty I'm still struggling with some of these things 6 months down the line, however I'm trying to learn new ways to cope with the changes.
Looking back these are a few things that I would tell myself earlier on in the post-uni transition:
In complete honesty I'm still struggling with some of these things 6 months down the line, however I'm trying to learn new ways to cope with the changes.
Looking back these are a few things that I would tell myself earlier on in the post-uni transition:
Tips for surviving post-uni life
1. Keep busy - fill your days with activities that you enjoy and try not to spend days at a time wallowing in your bed.
2. Make new friends - if you've moved away or to somewhere new, one of the best things to help you settle is making good friends. Friends give you a reason to get up and get you out of the house and keep you motivated in your everyday life. For me, my new job provided me with the opportunity to make friends.
3. Keep in mind that everything is currently temporary - if you're in a job that you don't like; it's temporary. If you're living somewhere you don't like; it's temporary.
4. Put your faith in God. He always has a plan for your life even if at times you feel forgotten or forsaken. God's timing can sometimes work slightly different to ours so it's important to be patient and wait for the opportunities that he will present to you.
1. Keep busy - fill your days with activities that you enjoy and try not to spend days at a time wallowing in your bed.
2. Make new friends - if you've moved away or to somewhere new, one of the best things to help you settle is making good friends. Friends give you a reason to get up and get you out of the house and keep you motivated in your everyday life. For me, my new job provided me with the opportunity to make friends.
3. Keep in mind that everything is currently temporary - if you're in a job that you don't like; it's temporary. If you're living somewhere you don't like; it's temporary.
4. Put your faith in God. He always has a plan for your life even if at times you feel forgotten or forsaken. God's timing can sometimes work slightly different to ours so it's important to be patient and wait for the opportunities that he will present to you.
I honestly have no idea what I want to do in life anymore or what my purpose is supposed to be. All I have to rely on at the moment is my faith but I know that God has a plan for me, I've just got to wait for him to open the right doors at the right moments.
Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
- S xo
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
- S xo
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