I’ve been in education since I was four years old, and in July of 2017 I will be graduating the University of Exeter with no plans and a very little idea of what I want to do with my life.
For as long as I can remember, people have asked me what I would like to be when I ‘grow up’. The way I answer this question has changed drastically over the years as it does for all of us. From the 17-year-old who wanted to be a zoologist, to the 12-year-old watching Michael Phelps make history in Beijing and dreaming of being an Olympic swimmer, to the teenager who after binge watching Grey’s Anatomy thought “hell yeah, maybe I could be a doctor after all.” And finally to the 20-year-old student who come July will be just as clueless as I was when I began University.
It feels like from the moment you get dressed for your first day of school, even picking GCSE’s, the pressure to enhance your CV and plan for your career begins. These expectations only intensify when you fast forward to University. Every family occasion turns into an interrogation of your future, and my favourite: people asking ‘Classics? What will you do with that?’. I’m four weeks into third year, and if I had a pound for every time someone has asked me what my plans are for after uni then I’d be a millionaire, well maybe not that rich, but I’d be able to pay off my student loan at least! And the truthful answer is I have no idea what I want to do after university.
We have so much fear that we’re going to graduate and have to have our lives planned out. In reality I’m still only going to be 21 and I’m pretty sure I’m not ready to spend my next 20 years in the same career I gained straight out of getting a degree. In all honesty I’ve never had a career in mind, my answer has always been oh I’ll figure it out or as long as I’m having fun then it’s ok!
To some extent I really did think that one day I’d have a eureka moment and figure it all out, but I’ve come to realise that pre-planning my life isn’t for me, and I understand I’ll probably have to figure it out some other way! And it can be scary, when your friends have plans for a master’s degree, or a graduate job lined up though an internship they did last summer, or a ten-point plan to get where the want to be, whilst I’d be perfectly happy going back to summer camp every year, and just being a big kid.
This pressure has led me to careers advisors and personal tutors on many occasions, who are always telling me “don’t panic”. THIS IS ENTIRELY TRUE! I’ve stopped panicking (for the most of it), there is so much to look forward to. We all want security and to know that what we do will offer a comfortable lifestyle, but for some people like me that will come in due time; at a time that is right for you individually, whether that be a month after graduation or a year after.
During a recent meeting with my tutor, she told me to take at least one year out, to explore the world, and take a break! Loads of people have done it, when you’ve been in education for so long you get lost in the structure of the regulations, I’ve never really had time to process “is this really what I want to do?” I’ve been reassured that it’s ok to not know what you want to do, that I may go through a dozen jobs before I find one that I really like! And this doesn’t freak me out, I embrace that there’s going to be so many skills I can gain from taking on different challenges, and when the time comes I’ll know they’ll be something perfectly suited for me.
The point I’m trying to make is you should do what you want to do and if that takes time then let it, and don’t let those slow steps make you feel like you’re not getting anywhere. You are, but on your own terms, for your own future. For now, I know that I’ll take some time out, explore the world the way I want to, and then just maybe my eureka moment will come, and if it doesn’t then that’s ok too. I’ll find something to do.
By Niamh O’Connor
thelvecollective.wordpress.com 