From personal experience, graduating from university and moving on with life is a difficult step to take. I spent three years at the University of Exeter and have now moved to London. This change in life is often downplayed, when, in many ways, it can be bigger change than finishing school and going on to university.
Life at university is simple and fun. At university, you live with friends, go out with your friends who live around the corner, and have a similar number of assignments. However, as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. After university, friends no longer live around the corner and are not free at any minute of the day. Everyone is exploring different routes and friends may be scattered. This is a massive adjustment to university. Your friends who once lived next door may no longer even live in the same city. This can be a lonely and isolating.
Indeed, struggling with the ‘graduation slump’ is another hurdle for recent graduates. At the end of university there is a lot of pressure to get a job, or have a job lined up following university. Graduates now find themselves in a tough position, especially following the pandemic. Due to oversubscription to jobs, it is highly competitive. This in conjunction with ever increasing costs of living (renting and owning), graduates feel hopeless and demoralised.
Whether you are moving back into your childhood house, or moving into a bigger place like London, isolation or helplessness is common. Moving to London, a massive hub of activity, is both exciting and terrifying. While the prospects are endless and activities much more exciting, it can be hard not to miss the small comforting town that you built your university life in. Indeed, if you are moving back home, while it can feel tedious and infantilising, it can be a valuable time to sit back, reflect and work out what path you really want to take.
Graduating from university is always marketed as exciting and easy. Until you personally experience it you are not aware of the harsh reality. The struggles of graduating are countless, especially now, and should be spoken about more. Discussion makes graduates feel less isolated and alone at a time of challenging change.
London Living 