The Graduation Blues

On Friday, for the first time, I got graduation blues. I was walking back late, after a busy and intense day of work and reviewing a show, to a completely empty house. A loud laugh shook me out of my sleepy state of auto pilot. A group were chatting on a bench outside the pub my friends and I were regulars at. For the first time, it really hit home that I would never get that back. Seeing a group that looked like ours laugh under a warm glow while I walked home in the dark brought a lump to my throat.
I hadn't had the graduation blues until then. About a year ago read an article on gal-dem about graduation depression, and I knew that I was a prime candidate. My mental wellbeing is very dependent on my productivity and my surroundings, and I romanticise everything drastically which makes me nostalgic for things that never even existed. After reading that article, I vowed to use every moment up until I graduated to do everything in my power to save myself from the graduation blues.
I would say I've succeeded. It took a lot of loss and goodbyes to get me to the point of heartbreak I described at the start of this post, and I think at other times of my life just one of them would have broken me. So I'm going to give you my advice on how to prevent a summer of sadness, a feeling of indirection, the graduation blues.
I think it's slightly harder to get out of this mentality than it is to stop yourself falling into it into the first place, so first up is my top tips on how to prevent ending up with the graduation blues with stuff you can do while you're still at university.

• Enjoy every single minute of it. Of course I wanted to leave university with a good mark, but more than that, I wanted to leave knowing I wouldn't ever sit at home alone thinking 'wow I wish I'd spent more time with my friends while we all lived so close' or 'I didn't take advantage of all the random shit I could try for like no money'. Do as much of your work as possible during the 'regular hours' (ie. 9-5 in the week) and you will have the time to enjoy nights out and events and meals out everything you want to.
• Use the time to get work experience. Heads up - a lot of work experience in industries like PR or the arts is not paid, or not paid very well. So the best time to do it is while you are at uni, when you can be a bit broke and still survive. I would say this is even more important if you are doing an arts-based degree. People who do computer science and chemical engineering can walk into a job in their industry because their learning is very easily transferable, but those of us with arts degrees usually need a little bit more practical experience outside of our degrees to get started. Use your uni time wisely and you will feel much better about your job prospects when you graduate, and will be much less likely to slip into a summer of sadness, or forced to take an unpaid internship in order to get your foot on the career ladder.
• Use the fucking careers service. I don't care if you don't think you have time, you do. Pick a job (any job if you really think you don't have time), go to the careers people and get them to help you with your application. You don't even have to actually send it off but you will learn SO much. Several long-winded applications in I finally went to them for help and it paid off. Ten applications resulting in no interviews > saw the careers service > three applications resulting in three interviews and a job offer. Those numbers do not lie.

Now here's my advice for if you're already in a pit of despair!

• Make a plan. Not a career plan, not an I'm-going-to-get-this-exact-job plan. A plan that's flexible, adaptable and gets you excited about the HUGE possibilities that await you. For example, by the time I graduated I still wasn't set on one career, but I had a few achievable options I'm interested in, two holidays planned with different people and an approximate move-in date that doesn't depend on anything other than me and my pals uniting our powers against the evil of estate agents. Flexible, achievable and most importantly, EXCITING.
• Okay, I know I said you don't have to do a career plan but my next tip is just to THINK about what/where/how you would like to work. Think about it for a week max. Don't mess about wondering what you'll enjoy, get out and try doing the jobs that first came to mind. You'll either love them or you'll learn that you hate bits of them, and then you'll be able to refine your dream job a little more. It's all a learning experience.
• If you're already applying for jobs and not getting anywhere - stop. Reassess. Are you going for jobs that are too inaccessible? They might seem entry level but for competitive industries like publishing, you need a hell of a lot of publishing-specific work experience before you'll even get an interview. Mix up who's looking over your CV. Do you know anyone in the industries you're applying for who might be able to help? Or anyone you know of who's an applications whizz?
• Do one thing every day that furthers you along your post-graduation journey. Open a savings account, apply for a job, plan a weekend away. It doesn't have to be huge for it to give you a productivity boost and get you feeling good about yourself. Also, make sure you go outside every day, fresh air fixes stale brain misery like no tomorrow.
• Appreciate the things you missed while you were at university. Marvel in the cleanliness of your kitchen worktops, amaze in the fact that someone took the bins out without being bribed, enjoy the delightful smell of your mum's cooking. Enjoy being around people you probably haven't seen as much as you should have done over the last 3 years.
• Get excited about the future! A lot of people say university was the best years of their lives, and if I was honest I would probably agree that they've been some of the best of mine. BUT I've never ever once thought 'oh those were the best years of my life' because I'm so excited for the years to come! No way were those the best years of my life! I'm gonna change the world, and you are too.

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If you have now left uni and can no longer access the careers service and would like CV, cover letter or application help, I would be more than happy to extend my services for either a small gift or a drink next time you see me! Only for job applications in the charity or arts sectors though, I don't rate myself checking a bio-med grads' lab technician application.