Five Years Since University: This Time Of Life

4 Sept 2018

Five years since university

At the beginning of September 2013, I moved out of Bath for good. It had been 3 wonderful, ridiculous years in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I’d spent a year in halls, 2 years in a shared house and 9 weeks in different halls specifically rented out for the summer; a final hurrah if you like. It was these halls where the above photo was taken at the end of a drunken night and where I moved out of at the beginning of September; it had been a particularly hot, lazy summer clinging on to that ‘student vibe’ right until the end. And then I entered adult life. Lol.

FIVE YEARS.

It feels like an age and yet it feels like no time at all.

I always wanted to go to university. I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is about university and the life of students I find so alluring. It is entirely possible that I am on old romantic but I will always love the feeling you get when on a university campus; the possibility and adventure of it all. I was lucky in that my university experience met most of my expectations (there were some disappointments of course but that’s life), however, the downside of this is that leaving university was fucking hard. I was pretty done with shared accommodation and not being able to escape ex boyfriends sure, but no one really prepares you for the fact that you build an entire life in those three years and then suddenly, it’s gone, and you’re back in your childhood bedroom like it was all some kind of dream and you’d never left.

I struggled in the first few months post-uni. I was grieving so many things, had NO idea what the fuck I was supposed to do with the rest of my life and my mum insisted on feeding me vegetables all the damn time (love ya mum, thanks for making sure I get my nutrients).

And yet, now I’ve lived five years of being a ‘proper adult’ (and feed myself vegetables…. kinda), I am beginning to think that this time of life is actually my favourite yet. It’s harder, more confusing and infinitely more terrifying then anything that came before but also the most interesting and exciting.

Anything goes these days. After years of always being at the same stage, all my friends are now moving at completely different paces, doing completely different things; and it’s so fascinating to watch. It one week I can celebrate a friend getting engaged, another friend taking a leap and starting a new career and another friend quitting their job to go travelling. Equally I can watch long-term relationships fall apart, take little reassurance in the fact that none of us know what the hell we’re doing and feel completely alarmed that I am now six months away from the age I always said I wanted to have a baby at.

This time of life is full of uncertainty and possibility and that combination means it’s a time of life where anything can happen. Sure, ‘anything’ could be good or bad but that’s half the fun. When one door closes and all that jazz. It’s a time where wine is drunk, travel is experienced and friendships are well and truly cemented.

And in the meantime, we’re learning about who we are, becoming more comfortable in our own skin, embracing our quirks and slowly letting go of the shit that doesn’t matter.

This time of life may have caused me more anxiety than any other but I sure as hell wouldn’t change it. Here's to five years of adulting lads.

Comments