Growing Pains – finding a path after graduation

By Hattie; https://hatschats.com/

It’s official. My degree, written on parchment paper, has come through the door and I am officially a graduate. I should be excited for all the next adventures waiting… But, why do I feel like my university is dumping me? It’s like they’ve sent my things in the post with a passive aggressive congratulations and be on your way. I know it would always come to an end and on some late night study sessions I wished it had come sooner. I had the most amazing four years at university, even with a few bumps along the way…. strike action and winter storm bumps and a global pandemic kind of bump. It’s fair to say, it wasn’t easy. But it was still one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Graduating in absentia is lonely, however. It’s a click of button to end your final seminar and another click to submit your final piece of work. Then it’s all come to the end. No hat, no cloak. Just like that! Conversations start changing from assignment chitter, to where’s your life going chatter. This shit is scary. Nobody really prepares you for this stage of life. Whether you have studied or not, everyone goes through it. Change starts to appear in all areas of life. Some of the things I’ve noticed over the past year would be: increasing activity on Right Move, the desire to watch children’s films, heavier anxiety about finance and stability, and even physical changes in my body. I have heard of the ‘Second Puberty‘; I mean what kind of fresh hell is that? My spotty and over-emotional teenage years were over… I thought so anyway. But no, your body and hormones all change again in your 20s. Your physical capabilities change too, not to mention after a pandemic. Stairs tire me now, I look for comfort in my shoes and underwear. Is this just me? Am I entirely boring now? I haven’t even mentioned the mood swings: from enraged postoffice experiences, to sobbing over infestations of fruit flies. The pressure is all consuming.

Why I Went Back to University – searching for a path

By Michael; https://tumbleweedwrites.com/

A few years ago, I wrote a somewhat zany post in which I explored the differences between the nightmares I have as an adult and the ones that plagued me as a child. In that post. I listed returning to education as one of my most frequent recurring nightmares as an adult- specifically in the form of a postgraduate degree. In each version of the dream, I would be unable to perform basic tasks- keeping up with deadlines, concentrating on assignments, or simply understanding the work. It all amounted to a general sense of being “out of touch”, of going back to something I used to do and finding myself no longer able to function in that setting. I’d lost that part of myself forever.

And yet here I am, right now in my waking life, in the thick of postgraduate education. After graduating from the University of Winchester with a BA in Creative Writing in 2014, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, or better yet- what I could possibly offer to the job market. I came close to doing an online MA in Creative Writing, but my heart wasn’t in it. Delaying adulthood didn’t seem like an adequate justification for taking on more debt. After that I stopped considering education- though as I mentioned, it would continue to creep into my dreams for some reason.

All Aboard the Motivation Train – ADHD and operant conditioning

From https://welivewithadhd.com/

Hello to all my ADHD peeps, and ADHD loved ones living with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). By request today I am going to talk about motivation. First off, I want to thank Frank(ie) for the question it gives a little bit of motivation to myself to have something to answer because it feels like I am able to help people a little bit. Without further commentary let’s get to it. 

Have you ever been demotivated and avoided starting a project because it feels pointless, or you feel like its not relevant? Have you been called lazy because you just can’t get it together and you struggle to meet timelines? This is a problem that a lot of people with ADHD deal with and it is okay to feel this way. I want to start this by saying you are not lazy; ADHD and motivation are intertwined differently and what works for one person may not work well with another. There can be a lot of trial and error to find a motivational reward system that works for you.

Reflections on school – demands and judgment

By Prati, a student at school; https://myteendiary.art.blog/

Oct 17, 2021

I want to start my life with a new identity in a new place

As much depressing as it sounds, it’s not. It’s the idea I want to live because I am tired of everything. I want to live in a new country with a new identity where no one knows me, I don’t know anyone.

I am happy but I am sad too. I don’t know any reason but I don’t want to live here. I am tired of all the people, situations in my life. If I want to move out, I have to study for that. My school life was very good, happy but not exciting, I didn’t party, I didn’t bunk any class, I didn’t do anything happening that’s the regret I am keeping but I have high hopes from my college. No one is guaranteeing me that I’ll happy there because I don’t know.