As you walk out of the examination room after writing your last ever
exam at university, your status immediately changes from ‘student’ to
‘unemployed’.
After a few days grace the folks are on your case: ‘what job are you going to
look for?’, ‘I don’t see any adverts asking for people with the subjects you have studied’,
‘why did I spend all this money if you're not even going to get employed’. And the
next few weeks change from what I believed was going to be a well deserved
holiday to a nightmare of confusion and anxiety.
From always being focused on becoming a nature
conservationist, to taking two gap years and deciding to study photography, to
getting absorbed with anthropology and getting by by writing relatively well,
to going into a political diploma in International Studies and becoming increasingly enthused by the idea of fighting climate
change and other environmental issues. How university has changed my initial
focus and lead me on a path I had previously never considered. Now I’m left
with a degree and a diploma that does not leave me with a title such as
‘accountant’ or ‘lawyer’.
You’d think that after studying for four years your confusion
would have subsided, instead it seems that this is only where it really begins.
