Leaving university - What on Earth do I do now? (This could be incredibly boring)

As many of you may be aware, for the last three years I have been a student at the University of Huddersfield, where I have been studying Media and Popular Culture. It has been the most stressful, enjoyable and memorable three years of my life so far and less than a fortnight ago, I handed in my last ever piece of work.

As I imagined, this filled me with so many emotions. I was relieved that I no longer have any essays or projects looming, happy that I could finally have lots of naps and lie ins without feeling guilty and also in the back of my mind, scared that I have absolutely no plans for the future.

To be honest, I have just enjoyed my freedom for the last week or so, but now it's starting to hit home that I don't have a plan. The reason I chose to study Media and Popular Culture was because I enjoyed all things media-related (TV, film, music etc) and wanted to delve further into the history and workings of the industry. Initially I had no idea what I wanted to do, and felt that a broad course would help me in that department as it would allow me to explore many things rather than restricting myself with a specific, specialist course. 

Having said this, three years later, I still feel exactly the same. I have enjoyed aspects of my course and disliked others, but I am still no wiser as to what career I'd like to fulfill and the only thing I know is that I want to write. If only it were that simple. A degree in a media-related discipline + A love for writing = Journalist - Right? Wrong. That is something I have decided strictly against. I don't like the idea of snooping into peoples business and writing in a strict, boring style where adjectives are frowned upon. I like writing, but I like writing about things I'm passionate about, or failing that, writing things to which I can add character and life. I know that is considered an immature view because allegedly the only way you will get opportunities like that is to work your way up career ladders, but unlike many people on courses similar to mine, I just don't have any interest in that profession.

At times I think I may have studied the wrong course and would've benefited more from a degree in something such as Creative Writing or Script Writing. But that's extremely hypothetical and something I can't change. Plus a degree is a degree and therefore whatever the discipline, a degree will hold good stead in any profession. However, the question remains - What on Earth do I do next?

Well, in short I have no idea. I don't even  have a home sorted yet which is something that fills me with dread and fear on a daily basis. I honestly have no idea what my plan is, other than to get a transfer and carry on working at my part-time job to save up plenty of money so that when I do get an idea in my head, money won't necessarily be a problem. I wish I could carry on cross-stitching and blogging and not having a care in the world like I have for the last few days, but unfortunately, that won't pay the bills! Who would've thought that leaving university would be as stressful as being at university?! 

I'm aware how boring this post may be in comparison with my others but I needed a good old whinge!

Don't worry though, I've got a post up my sleeve for Friday/Saturday that will be epic and definitely picture heavy.

Feel free to share your own graduation/leaving university blues and we can all wallow in self pity together. Or, if you do have a kickass plan for after uni, share it with me and inspire me to do something with my life!

Crikey, third year is NOT a walk in the park...

Wow, the last few weeks have been a rollercoaster. Slowly but surely, I am starting to realise just how difficult final year is. With the sudden realisation of just how little time there is left in uni and an array of deadlines creeping up, my head has been quite a mess.

Earlier this month I noticed just how little time I had to do so much work and it really freaked me out. Having said this, I didn't exactly jump into work mode, but instead spent time doing fun things with my flatmates or failing that, lazing around not doing much at all. Its hard to find the right balance in third year for work and social activities, especially when you are dreading leaving university and therefore want to spend every last minute enjoying yourself. Because of this, I started to leave a lot of important things til the very last minute.

While we might be getting nearer to Christmas, we are also getting closer and closer to deadlines, meaning I am currently in panic mode. Over the last few weeks, it has dawned on me just how much time I've been wasting and because of that, my stress levels have been through the roof. Due to the stress of upcoming deadlines and the fact that I found myself doing a module that was completely and utterly out of my comfort zone, I was feeling very overwhelmed. For the first time in three years, everything got a little too much and I actually wanted to leave it behind and go home, which is something extremely out of the blue for me.

After a minor mental breakdown and a bit of crying in various tutors offices, I decided to drop the module that was causing me issues and change to something that I am actually interested in and have quite a passion for. I also decided it was time to knuckle down and try to get some work done on the essays that have deadlines lurking around the corner.

It never occurred to me that I would feel so down and to be honest, depressed, with uni, but I think once in a while, every student has a bit of a rough patch and becomes unexpectedly overwhelmed with what is expected of them. I'm happy to say that the rough patch has gone and I am now feeling much better.

My tutors and some of my coursemates were very reassuring and told me that they've been in the same boat, which made me feel a lot better and less pathetic for crying in the first place! It felt as though everything was getting on top of me, but since then I have took control, made a start on some things and generally been more positive.

I don't really know what I'm aiming for by writing this in my blog but I know I've been a bit absent in writing for a while and to some extent this is why. I'm sure there are many other student bloggers who have felt similar or many who have just started their studies and will at some point. So I guess this post could help them in some way.
The morals of the story in short are:

•  Don't let things get ahead of you, take control
•  If you need to cry at someone, then don't feel daft, just let it out, everyone gets stressed from time to time
• And more importantly if you do feel like this, don't let it hinder your university experience because its just a very small bump in the road of what is otherwise a fantastic journey and adventure.

So with all that in mind, I should get off my blog and do some more quote-hunting and research (Fun!)

Before I do though, I should probably mention my boyfriend in this.
He recently got the urge to jump on the blogging bandwagon and decided to start a blog and post something everyday. I initially teased him for stealing my turf but to be honest he has kept up with it pretty good so far and actually posted more recently than me! He doesn't have a specific topic or subject area, its just a diary entry style blog, but he's committed to it and it will definitely be interesting to read back over everything in a few months time. So why not check out his blog here and maybe give him a follow? Go easy though, he's new to this!

To anyone with upcoming uni deadlines, good luck!
And to the rest of you, you don't know how bloody lucky you are!