A lot of people go to university because they feel as though they don’t know what else to do, or they feel pressured by family or tutors at school. I went to university because I had always wanted to, from the age of about thirteen. What I didn’t realise is how hard it would hit me when I did one last sweep over my empty university house I’d lived in for two years and handed the keys back to my landlady. I had graduated a month or so before, but it was the key hand-over that really hit me, and so I thought I would write an article about the top three hardest things about saying goodbye to university as a third year.
I made a particularly close group of friends in third year that are all from the South of England, whereas I am very much in the North. I briefly caught up with a few friends still at my university town when I went to clear out my house and talking to them made me realise just how much I missed the convenience of being able to meet up with them whenever I want. Even my friends who live in the South live too far away from each other to easily meet up. When asked, they all unanimously agreed that being separated from your university friends is a really sad experience because you go from seeing each other almost every day to basically never – which I expected, but it has still been a difficult adjustment process. This is one of the hardest things about saying goodbye to University.
I think we all expected it to be tough, but I’ve found that the majority of people on my course are either prolonging graduate life by doing a Masters (no shade if you’re doing a Masters, I applaud you for pursuing it and for a lot of people it is necessary for their field of work) or by trying to get a retail or hospitality job while they decide what to do. Several of my friends have admitted that they don’t feel ‘ready’ for proper adult life, and that they feel university doesn’t adequately prepare you for the career world after you graduate. Whilst support was available, it was never explicitly offered, and the workshops put on did not seem to take into consideration the difficulty of finding any sort of job in the current market, let alone one relevant to your degree. It can be a very confusing and frustrating time, especially when you’re continually asked questions by well-meaning family and friends who only make the situation worse.
This is one of the more obvious things about saying goodbye to University, but you don’t realise how much you truly cherish your freedom until you move back home. I personally have been very lucky, as my family still give me space and I can still concentrate on my projects without being interrupted (mostly!). However, moving back to a place I’ve lived away from for three years still seems very weird sometimes. Liverpool is very big compared to my university town, and the first time I went back into the city centre I felt completely overwhelmed and panicky at how crowded it was, not to mention the people, the accent, and the culture. These are all small things but settling back into such a lively city (no matter how wonderful it is!) takes some getting used to when you’ve been away for so long.
Those are the top three things I’ve noticed after saying goodbye to my university. I hope this article makes you feel a little less alone if you’re a recently graduated student, remember that we’re all experiencing the confusion of becoming a proper adult, and no one ever mastered it straight away!
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