Straight out of school. NOW WHAT?
It can literally be the most confusing time getting to your final years of schooling, and feeling like you have to pick a uni course to jump straight into or even what subjects you might potentially enjoy studying. So many times I stood in awe of friends that had their hearts set out straight away on what they wanted to pursue at university and later in life.
My schooling experience I always had felt I was pretty lucky in. I had loved learning from a young age, and was always wanting to be the smartest in the class. I prided myself on reading novels in the first stages of primary school(or so I would brag to all my relatives) and the story of me crying to family always comes up, because there was one kid that was smarter than me in grade 3.
Throughout school I’ve always cruised through aimlessly with good grades. In my final years, I was reluctant usually to do homework but found I had it down pat to always cram the night before and usually get good grades in SACS. While I probably wouldn’t recommended this, socialising was definitely more of my focus at the time.
Anyways, coming into the time where University preferences were cutting a fine line, I literally had no intention of even going to university as I had always planned to save on gap year and head straight overseas to live for a while by myself. I had the most random lists of preferences, but come D-day I had received an offer for a Bachelor of Creative Arts, majoring in Visual Communication Design.
Creativity and art had always been hobbies or passions of mine, and so I thought why the hell not and up and moved two hours away. I wanted a new life away from everyone I knew, and was so determined to prove it to myself, because I knew how independent I was.
Fast forward, I finished my first year of uni and was pretty happy with it (or what I can remember of it - Definitely made good use of goon and those thursday uni nights). Although, I fell into the trap of wanting to earn money over being at uni, and quickly fell into a pit of not putting enough time into my studies and working crazy hours in hospitality. At some stages of this I was working 3 jobs, with most of my hours all coming into the weekend. Im talking cafes all friday, saturday and sunday, and filling my friday and saturday nights with bar work. Looking back now, I know why now I appreciate the important of having a sleeping pattern so much.
Throughout being at uni for this first year, I cried multiple times (although me crying is like an everyday thing, FYI: very emotional gal here) always running home to my parents that I had no clue where I was going in life and had no idea whether this was the course for me, and it honestly felt like I’d moved nowhere from there. The beautiful souls they are though, had always reminded me that a career should be something you are passionate about and love! In which Im so lucky to have that their not those parents that will force a doctorate degree down your throat until you physically can’t do anything.
Something I find so important about being or not being at university is don’t lie to yourself or any family about what you’re doing. I know for ages I had told my grandmothers I was still there because it was easier than explaining why you weren’t there, but it only makes it harder on yourself feeling like you should be there. If you know the course doesn’t feel right, take a break, try something else or even just defer. Its always there to go back to, sometimes straight out of school, we need that break to focus on who we are and what we want, because for so long we’ve moulded to these clones that have followed the curriculum and done certain things just to fit in.
If you’re fresh out of high school or stuck in what to do with your life, please honestly don’t fret about uni right now or that you aren’t in your final year when all your friends are finishing their degrees. Reality is that a few of these friends will probably finish their degrees, and won’t even work in that field later on in life, or will actually hate it as a job in the real world.
The only advice I could give is, try work in a few different jobs. Nothing will ever be a waste. Assess and evaluate what you liked or didn’t like about certain jobs and how it really made you feel when you completed certain parts of those jobs. For me, working in hospitality has taught me that I love working with people and talking to people. While I was a kitchen hand for a while, I learnt I hate repetitive jobs, because prepping the same damn food everyday wasn’t fulfilling my purpose in life thats for sure. I really feel like the only way we can learn what job we want to be working in, is essentially through trial and error, and finding what we do and don’t like.
Stop worrying that your friends have almost finished uni, stop worrying that you haven’t saved money for the house you planned to buy at 20 because you didn’t realise how damn hard it is being an adult. Start focusing on what ignites your soul, and what you really want to be achieving while you work later in life. Another important tip though is definitely don’t ever feel like you are stuck in the same career for the rest of your life! I have already changed jobs in 9 times in the last 4 years because I know when a job gets stagnant for me. But this has only been a learning curve for me in order for me to be able to learn what I like in a job and about myself!
For me, I have currently started a Bachelor of Psychological Science at Deakin, because I have always found myself to be interested in why we do what we do, and how we think. I honestly feel that my passion and drive in a job is to be able to help people and spread a positive message. I know how much of a kick I get personally out of being able to help other people feel better, and my goal is to be able to find a job that combines a few of my passions. Life really is just about finding your strengths, and weaknesses, your likes and dislikes, and being comfortable with who you are as a person. After you’ve started working towards that, then can you really start to focus on a job you will be able to pursue.
Make sure you are using your time wisely. Everything that is thrown at you in life, is meant to be a lesson, so make sure you take this time to figure out what exactly the universe was trying to tell you! Also, in saying in this, I know 100% its easier said than done, but try to be positive, things might not look the best now, but real soon Im sure there’ll be plenty of opportunities coming your way, you just have to make sure you are doing everything to be positive and happy and new doors will open for you.
Keep dreaming!
Crystal xo