It’s been a while since I last posted on here. In fact it has been a lot longer than I first thought. The whole of summer has elapsed since my last post which marked the milestone of leaving University for good.
So how would I sum up the past months? I left University in the unknown, the prospect of finding my way in the world thrust upon me like an invading shadow. I think many of you will agree that this gut wrenching feeling was mutual.
The constant worry of finding a job, the lingering anticipation as to whether I would graduate and not to mention the horror of having my freedom tore away through the transition back to life at home were all tough pills to swallow.
I left life at uni however with a certain degree of optimism. Even though I was fully aware that my circumstances were somewhat detrimental, a part of me still felt and remains hopeful about the future.
As I began my decent into the unknown however the big wide world quickly started to dismantle the hope that lived within me. The stark reality of my situation hit home. It hit me fast and hard and I was powerless to do anything about it.
In the weeks after uni had ended my independence was shattered as moving back home with parents really took its toll. To make matters worse the collective depression surrounding the severe state of the economy also cast its poisonous misery upon me and the realisation that I had no money or real prospect of finding a job became ever so real.
As the weeks progressed my situation altered very little, the only change being that part-time work at my unwanted job turned to full-time leaving me slightly more financially stable. To this day I still remain a member of the masses struggling to make it out there. Even though my situation remains similarly bleak somewhere between now and then my mentality changed.
I began my post university life journey feeling dejected, depressed and let down by the system. In an attempt to combat these feelings I dedicated my time finding ways that I could better myself, regardless of the financial incentive. As a result I fought my earlier decision to shy away from the idea of completing work experience as a journalist and landed myself a voluntary position at a local newspaper. Something happened that day and my whole outlook on life began to change.
I think it was the first day I noticed my name feature in the newspaper that I really sparked hope and determination within me. A mixture of self-pride, happiness and disbelief at the concept of local people seeing my name and entrusting in my material was quite overwhelming and also quite emotional.
In the time spent dedicating my time bringing news to people I really feel like I’ve grown as person. My knowledge, skills and most importantly confidence within my own abilities has expanded beyond my wildest dreams.
Before my time there I really don’t think I was ready to take on the world and I think that’s probably why I never did. Even though I still haven’t made it to where I want to be I now truly believe in the concept that if you have the believe in yourself and you want something so bad that your willing to go out there and fight for it then nothing can stop you.
I think it’s only fitting therefore that my advice to all you other graduates out there who have found yourselves like me (feeling dejected), would be to go out there and do something that’s going to instil faith in your abilities.
Who knows after that you might just be surprised with what you’re capable of?
C.P Riches 