ONE YEAR ON FROM GRADUATION

 Can you believe it? This week marks the one year anniversary since I graduated from university. A whole year. That is INSANE. It doesn't seem five minutes since I had finished my A Level exams and I was anxiously awaiting results day to not only see how I had done, but with the double whammy of whether I had gotten into university. (This post looks like it's going to be a bigg'un so go make yourself a cup of tea!)

 If you're new here (firstly a big welcome, I hope you'll stick around) to give you a bit of background, I studied at The University of Sheffield and left with a BA (Hons) in English Literature last year. I absolutely loved my time at uni and I wasn't sure how I would transition into the 'working world'. Tom and I moved out of our shared student house into a 'proper' house and Tilly made the transition from my parents house to move up north. I'll be honest, as SO much changed all at once, I did find it quite hard and suffered with a bout of situational anxiety for a while as I started to settle in and get used to a completely whole new way of life. This isn't really something I've ever addressed on here, but I wanted to make the point from the start that the transition from student life to, well the rest of your life, is a really hard one and one that takes some time to get used to.

 

 I LOVED my graduation day - it was so lovely to get together with family and celebrate all the effort you've put in throughout your degree! It was also really lovely because Tom graduated the day after me which meant that we could go to each other's ceremonies and be a part of each other's day. 

 After finishing uni I wasn't putting that much pressure on myself to go out and get a job because I knew that this would be the last big summer holiday that I could have and I really needed a break after such a hectic final year and degree as a whole! I was also really lucky as my parents didn't put the pressure on me to find a job, and for this I am SO grateful to them as it gave me the room to breathe. I spent the summer settling in to my new house with Tom and Tilly, and enjoyed being able to go on days out to local areas and generally just have the time to chill out and relax. This also allowed me to go back to visit my parents and grandparents for a few days and catch up with family after having not travelled to Suffolk since Easter.

 

All too soon the summer was reaching an end, and in this time I had gained a temporary full time contract until Christmas. This was good but scary as it was with a company I had never worked for, and one where I didn't know anybody. After an anxiety-filled first week, I slowly started to get used to the working life routine, and made a few friends who had started at the same time as me. 

 Before I knew it, the weeks were going by and the day you get your first pay cheque is a very good one! I loved having evenings and the weekend to myself (and still do!) and to be able to spend time with Tom, my family, and my friends. 

 The start of the new year brought a new sixth month contract in the form of a graduate internship at my university. This had actually been my aim from about the second year of my degree, and I knew I had made the right decision when I woke up on my first day and instead of being met with the feeling of sickness and anxiety, I was excited!

 

 I absolutely loved my internship and I've recently moved into a different role on a year's contract in another department. I loved that I was able to have the chance to go on holiday with Tom to Majorca as the last time we had been on a 'proper' holiday was back in 2014! A lot has happened over the last year, and I do feel that my life is very different. I really appreciate my time at university and I do feel nostalgic for the lifestyle, but I don't think I would have enjoyed another year doing a masters degree. You might have noticed that I said how long each of my contract's have been since starting work, and I've done this to highlight to anyone who is about to graduate that when you do venture into working life, you shouldn't knock short term contracts as they can lead onto longer contracts and they give you a wealth of experience. Here's hoping next year I'll be able to say permanent!

To anyone about to graduate, good luck, enjoy the day, and look forward to what's to come. It won't be easy at times, but you will get there!

Jess x