By Ella Witney
Welcome Glassies, to your guide to life. This series takes a deep dive into all your pressing need-to-knows (how to be a student politician, how to do the Bookfest like a pro, and how to survive toxic workplaces) and offers comprehensive guides so that you can live your Best Glassie Life™.
This edition is A Glassie’s Guide to Post-Graduation.
You’ve done it! It’s the greatest achievement of your life. You’ve finally finished your degree. Or maybe you’re still getting there, counting down the days until you’re officially done. Whether you’re in your first year or fifth year, enjoying the life uni has to offer or you’re just getting by, getting the hell out of that place is constantly on your mind. After all, it is what you’re working towards.
My name is Ella and I’m a QUT Creative Writing alumni. I graduated in December 2023, and I’ve been navigating post uni life for the past few months. Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve learnt along the way. Everyone’s graduation journey looks a little different and will hold various obstacles and challenges that others might not face. And don’t be fooled, this time will bring with it just as many lows as it will highs.
When you hit the highest point of the roller coaster, all there’s left to do is go down.
This high of highs naturally results in a period of lows. You’ve just spent the last few years in a constant state of panic – going to classes, ignoring the readings, hoping the assignment you’ve written is actually what the tutor asked for – of course you’re going to need time to recover.
The best thing I’ve found is let the bad times run their course. Don’t force your way out of it. After all, you’re grieving your old uni life, let yourself heal.
This feeling usually starts to hit in the sweet window between submitting your last assignments and your graduation day. You haven’t even graduated yet and already you’re feeling down. What’s wrong with you?
The answer? Nothing. Nothing is wrong with you, at all.
You will question whether you did the right thing in going to uni; maybe you should have just gotten a job, then you would have actually had money by now, maybe moved out of home, you might have a nicer car, maybe have gone on a few nice holidays since, maybe none of this was worth it.
These thoughts are very normal. And hey, it was all worth it. You got your degree, baby. You did it.
Just remember, It’s not just you. Everyone you graduated with will feel like this, so don’t feel too disheartened if some of them don’t feel like catching up. Being a good friend, give them some space, let them know you’re there to talk if they need you.
Don’t expect to get hired straight away.
You finished your degree, now it’s time to do what you went to uni for: get a job.
If you’ve been working a part-time/casual job while studying, it’s best to hold onto it for a little longer. For December graduates, this time of year is called the “slow period”. People are trying to get through Christmas, the office isn’t open again until January – the last thing employers want to be doing is hiring new people during this time.
This slow period unfortunately lasts through January and February, as companies attempt to recuperate after their biggest quarter. Realistically, it might not be until after March when you start seeing a wider variety of job applications (and ones that actually get back to you, too).
Rejection letters are tough, but it’s not the end of your career.
With every job application will come one of three responses; no, yes or no response at all. Surprisingly enough, you’ll receive the latter far more than you’d like. Don’t feel too discouraged by it, it’s not you. Sometimes, employers will receive an abundance of applications and none of those applicants will get the job. Instead, the position will go to one of the other employee’s children – you never had a chance, my friend.
In turn, they will give you some spiel: “We found your resume impressive and we have kept it on file for any future positions that become available.” Translation: you’ll never hear back from them again. It’s time to move onto the next application.
At times it feels like kicking a down dog. You’re already depressed enough as it is, now you have to deal with rejection letters? Don’t lose hope. Some paths are longer and more winding. Take it slow, enjoy the journey. Spooky forests with no sunlight, unpaved roads and lots of overgrowth can be beautiful, right?
It’s okay to take a break. You deserve it.
Let’s get real for a second, our generation will never get to retire. It’s hustle, hustle, hustle until we work ourselves to death. Welcome to the real world, graduates. Take this time to work on personal projects. You’re about to spend the next sixty years in the workforce, so enjoy the time off now while you’ve got it.
Some of you will have entered university straight after high school and have been studying for over fifteen years (that’s a long time!).
Now is the best time to visualise where you want to go in life. When people in my classes asked me what I wanted to do after uni, I’d reply, “Right now I’m just trying to get through the rest of my degree, I’ll sort that out later.” After graduating I had the time to think about it and take it seriously. It took me a little while to get there, but now I’m riding the autobahn of success and I’m on the right path that suits me and what I want to do with my career.
Being poor doesn’t mean you’re shit.
(This might not apply to everyone, but if anything, I really just need to remind myself of this.)
During this time of waiting to hear back from job applications, you might not have much money, regardless of whether you live with your parents or have your own place. Or maybe the entry level position you were able to snag doesn’t pay as sweet as you want it to.
Listen to me: this doesn’t make you a shitty person.
In the age of social media, it’s hard not to compare your life to others. People don’t post their breakdowns or depression, so all we do is compare ourselves to their photogenic highs. Everyone has low points, and everyone’s wins look different.
At this point in time, Australia is dealing with inflation rises and price gouging supermarket monopolies; everyone is feeling the strain. We’re strong, we’re okay, we’ll get through this.
Your HECS debt is a shitty friend.
You’ve just acquired the biggest debt you’ve ever had, maybe ever will have. As much as you want to get rid of it as fast as possible, it’s easier on your mind to forget about it for a little while.
Government loans are a little different to bank loans. The bank will ride your dry backside until you pay off your debt, whereas your government loaned HECS sits there quietly until you can afford to pay it off.
Everyone is taking a different path.
Graduation and what comes after is nothing short of overwhelming. You are on your own unique path that varies from your peers. This doesn’t make you any worse or better than the rest of your cohort.
But if you’re taking any of my advice, take this one: Own your losses, own your wins, annihilate those suckers, show them who’s boss. Yeah, you’re sad, but the difference is, it’s your sadness, no one else’s.
But don’t fret, dear reader! You’re not alone on this long, exciting and daunting excursion. This is the beginning of the rest of your life! You can now do whatever you want to with it. If you decide that you want to change careers later down the track, that’s absolutely possible. If you want to work yourself into an early grave, you go girl. The world is at your fingertips.
Remember, your life is only what you make of it.
Congratulations on graduating, my loves.
Ella is a Brisbane-based creative and has recently graduated a BFA in Creative Writing at the Queensland University of Technology. Her poetry and stories have been published in ScratchThat Magazine and Vermillion’s Groove Garden, and she has read at the QUT Lit Salon. As a third-generational member of Brisbane’s folk scene and an Irish fiddler, Ella is inspired by traditions and lore, and is always on the lookout to see what can be amended to better suit modern audiences.
