Graduation – The End of an Education?

Photo of the author. All images courtesy of Jessica Armstrong.

Having just graduated at the beginning of this summer, I’ve spent a fairly significant amount of time reflecting on the occasion. Graduation signifies the official end of our degree courses, and, for some of us, concluding our time as students — at least for the foreseeable future. That much-anticipated day involves a rollercoaster of emotions, not limited to immense joy, gratitude, and relief. Being able to celebrate with the friends, family, and staff who had got me through made to the end for an incredibly special experience which even made the years of worry and doubt leading up to it worth it. 

Yet, in the same moment that my graduation hood was being placed over my shoulders, I felt as though, in a way, that the rug was being pulled from under me. 

Having spent eighteen years of my life in education of some sort, the transition from being a pupil, student, or scholar to becoming someone out in  the ‘real world’ seemed as terrifying (if not more so!) as it was exciting. And it still does. Though there are a plethora of articles out there which promise to relieve your doubts about this well-documented change, these tend to focus on encouraging you to be more professional (whatever that means), rather than allowing you to overcome your fears. 

While I had (really easily, in fact!) managed to get my head around the inevitability that a job would mean that I would not be able to watch Netflix whenever I wanted, what I hadn’t really prepared myself for was the subtler (but all the more crushing) shifts non-student life would bring in its wake. 

I’ve been out of formal education for just over a month now, so I wouldn’t take these pieces of advice on how to navigate the changes as gospel by any means. I’m very much still going through the motions myself – and will probably always claim to be a student at heart. 

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Ditch the Labels

Apparently, if you graduate and then get a job, you become a ‘young professional’. I don’t know who came up with that term, but while I am indeed young, I couldn’t really define to you what I’m supposed to be professional at. The term fills me with terror (and also a decent amount of scorn, if I’m honest). At this point in life, so many of the people around you are going to be at different stages. For example, some of my friends are pursuing further study, others are taking some time off, while others are either in the process of applying for jobs, or have graduate positions lined up for after summer. Though it is easier said than done, comparison is futile. 

What has made avoiding this a little bit easier for me has been thinking of myself first and foremost as a person. As silly as this might sound, I tended to let the fact that I was a student define my entire existence (perhaps something which might be applicable to a lot of us), and was keen that I wouldn’t let my job have the same effect on my mindset. 

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Realise that academic interests are not void just because you happen not to be matriculated!

As it was in the final semester of my degree that I felt as though I was finally getting the hang of academic writing and had realised what I really wanted to study, I had many worries about whether or not I actually wanted to give it all up. And, through a belief fueled largely by imposter syndrome, I had convinced myself that no longer being a student would mean that I wouldn’t be qualified to look into my questions any further. However, someone much wiser than I am made me see sense by asking, “if studying towards a degree is supposed to equip you to research, why should that have to stop once you earn it?”

Rather than quashing your research dreams by association, the time after graduation can offer time to think, develop, and pursue your interests – even for curiosity’s sake. Many conferences are now live-tweeted, making it easy to keep roughly up to date even from afar, and many articles are open-access.

Technically, just because you’re not studying a degree in Victorian literature, all of the time, right now, it doesn’t mean that you can’t say that you are interested in, or even continue your research into the Victorian era. While there are obviously many privileges which come as a result of enrolment on a course and direct involvement in an academic institution which cannot be replicated, graduation does not shut those doors as forcibly as you might think. 

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… And reclaim some non-academic interests

As much as graduation does not have to stifle your academic pursuits, the transition away from full-time education can also be a great time to start to pursue interests you might have forgotten along the way – guilt-free. Once I learnt very quickly that my tendency to over-work isn’t actually confined to the pressures of a degree (I started my first two weeks of my full-time job by taking work home on a memory stick to work on it further!), I have started to see the necessity of investing time in the other things in life which bring me joy, or which help me to relax. 

These don’t have to be life-changing, either. I went on a month-long binge of reading books I wanted to read for the sake of reading them. I’ve also picked up my running shoes again, and am starting to commit time to eating properly and cooking from scratch. In many ways, being released from the hyper-competitive environment of academia has made me realise that there is truly much, much more to life than being known as being high-functioning, or being able to argue an excellent thesis statement, and I can already see the improvements in my mood because of it. 

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Be Vulnerable

I found that at university, bonding with new people my own age was easy enough, as you could immediately empathise with the struggles you inevitably had in common. Although I’d consider myself a fairly approachable person, there wasn’t a lot which could prepare me for being the youngest person in my office. While many articles guide you towards the approach of remaining strictly professional – or, in other words, like an automaton – this won’t actually earn you many friends, which isn’t ideal when you don’t know a single other soul. Over the past month, I have found that being open and asking for help doesn’t actually make others think any less of your capability. In fact, these things make you seem more human, and can even be the catalyst for an in-joke. Who knew! The reality is that in these transitional days, you won’t actually have a clue what is going on, and people don’t actually mind if you’re willing to admit that every once in a while. 

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Stay in touch with your friends

The beauty of going to a very international university is that it is likely that you will strike up friendships with amazing individuals from across the globe. Possibly the most painful thing about doing the same is that, when it is time to leave, those friends will not be a short distance away when you do. While virtual contact does not come close to a real, face-to-face conversation, you will get used to it being your new normal – over time. I truly did not believe it for a second when people told me it was completely normal that I would feel like crying in a bathroom cubicle at the beginning of my job, but on the one occasion that I did, it was because it well and truly hit me that I wouldn’t be seeing one of my best friends in person for months. 

Even if you’re working full-time and you feel as though you have no hours in the day, make sure to keep in contact with your friends. Still invest the time and the effort, and be there for them as much as you’d like them to be there for you. Nothing does compare to an in-person conversation, but you’ll be amazed when you realise that you can advise on outfits, console during freak outs, encourage, and keep up to date on their lives from afar – albeit if over the phone during a lunch break, or over an unpredictable internet connection and varying time zones. The power of the written word, postcards, and snail mail shouldn't be underestimated, either! 

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Remember that you don’t have to have it all figured out.

One of the most bewildering things about this weird stage termed ‘adulthood’ is that people always want to know what you’re doing next. In final year, it was always “do you know what you want to do next yet?” – a question I thought I had staved off when I finally got a job. Alas, that has not been the case, and I’ve already had a few well-meaning relatives ask me about my planned career progression… when I’m not yet two months into my current role. While I’m all for ambition, and career moves, the repetivity of these questions is nothing short of overkill. 

My frustration at this has actually encouraged me to see the value of being present, of considering things as they are, rather than wistfully anticipating what might be still to come. The pressure on recent graduates and young people in general to be achieving all of the things on society’s idea of a timely fashion is infinite, and I am trying to accept that it isn’t going to go away any time soon, nor is there any use in spending my time worrying about doing so. While a degree teaches you many things (even an English degree, perhaps to society’s displeasure), figuring out how to be superhuman isn’t one of them. 

When people ask what you’re doing next, remember the fact that you have indeed gone and earned yourself a degree, and that is something to be incredibly proud of in and of itself. What you do with it, or because of it, is entirely allowed to be on your timing and choice. 

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As much as the uncertainty which comes with the end of an education is terrifying, it can also be exciting – and although there are ways to navigate the often-tumultuous aftermath of student life, an equally effective approach can also be to see where that uncertainty takes you. 

While people might like to tell you that you can’t be a student forever, the sheer quantity of lessons you learn in these first days outside of a lecture theatre would prove otherwise. And though the end of formal education might signal the end of a definitive era, it certainly doesn’t have to mean that you stop being educated. 

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Born and bred in very rural Northern Ireland, Jess left home for four years to pursue a degree in English Literature at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Having decided that she hasn't had enough of universities just yet, she will start working in Belfast in July.

As well as being an avid reader, Jess enjoys nothing more than making things happen. This year, she was student President of the School of English, and has previously worked in communications roles at various arts and poetry festivals across Scotland.

When she isn't trying to reduce her caffeine intake or levels of sarcasm, she can probably be found trying to get through as many Victorian tomes as possible.