Graduating from university, working on your dream job, and financially independent is an exciting new phase in life. During our time in university, there were endless of opportunities being offered and put in front of our doorstep, we are continuously being feed with amazing things awaits us out there, but hardly told us the real struggle we need to face.
I remember feeling so anxious about graduating because the real world out there will never be as exciting as the university. However, as a typical fresh graduate ready to conquer the world, I was trying to embrace this new phase of life, thinking, “how bad life can go wrong”.
And… Yep! I was being rejected by my dream job, jobless for a year, continuously being bombarded by friends and family about “where do you work now?” question, feeling like a loser with all those hard-work and achievements wasted and meaningless.
Reflecting at it, I wish I knew these important lessons before I embark on this journey :
The most important lesson: It’s OKAY to fail
We love and adore the image of fame, while we don’t talk much about failure. We’re continuously being feed by media the pretty things, thus we perceived it as the new normal (not to mention that pretty title highlight on your social media). We need to fail, because, at the lowest point in our lives, we’re able to reflect on our values, actions, and rebuild our goal. I wish people and the media talk more about failure.
Comparing yourself to others is a nightmare
It’s like a competition, at some point we’ll stop (and often) to see how far we score in life. We’ll always compare ourselves with others above us because that’s where we wish to be. We’ll compare our salary, career level, holiday destination, the bags we carried, up to the makeup brands we use. Unfortunately, social media has allowed us to do this. Our lives are more miserable than ever because we choose to care about what others have rather than taking care of our own lives. Moreover, this is the source of the growing number of mental health issues. We need to focus on things that matter to us. It’s okay to look up sometimes to boost our motivation, but it’s equally important to appreciate how far we have achieved, take a deep breath, and rest along the way.
You need to knock on hundreds of doors
On average it takes 118 applications to finally getting a job. There are thousands of jobs being advertised yet it’s so challenging to find that one job. Go out there and apply, apply, apply! Use your network for reference, attend job fairs, or apply for an internship, don’t be shy and desperate. Even if things not turning out as you hope, It’s still a great experience. You’ll be more confident in expressing yourself and answering interviewer questions. Remember, it’s okay to fail, take a rest if you needed, and never compare yourself to others.
In the end, the university equips us with the foundation and a sense of what we wanted to achieve, but the journey starts once you put yourself out there. I thought I’ve figured out the perfect post-university life, but turn out I was and still am as clueless as all of you. I hope you won’t feel alone in this fight.
Indeed it’s a scary and bumpy road, but that makes life exciting, right?
