Finishing your third year of university definitely warrants some downtime afterwards. Me? I took on multiple jobs and I don’t regret it for a second.
Post University Panic
As my third year of university wrapped up, I decided that I was going to brave the adult world and not do a postgraduate degree. It was a scary decision but financially, I couldn’t keep up my education. The day after I made that decision I sat next to my best friend in the library and applied for everything that was vaguely relevant to my degree in sheer panic.
Like many students, I took on a part-time job in a shop whilst at university so I didn’t have to worry *quite* so much about money. It’s not my dream job, and it’s only minimum wage, but it’s easy, stable and I don’t think about it once I clock out. I knew I wanted to keep that under my belt for the foreseeable as it was reliable income, and I could go up the full-time hours. But I also wanted something more.
I must’ve applied for dozens of jobs, and the reality is I only heard back from a few. I sent off endless cover letters, articles, and test papers and I started to feel a little hopeless. The truth is that it had only been a couple of weeks, tops, but I’m a catastrophiser and I’m impatient so that feeling of dread came thick and fast.
And then I got an email from a company, Freshered in fact, that wanted me to write for them. Not only write for them but actually get paid for it too. It was a real sense of achievement knowing that my work was good enough to be paid for. I told my best friend immediately, and that feeling of dread slipped away. I could write pretty much what I wanted when I wanted. It fit in perfectly with my part-time job.
One After Another
I settled into that routine really well. I’d pretty much forgotten about other things that I had applied for as it had been a couple of months and I hadn’t heard anything. Then I got another email; an internship at a publishing company. I was absolutely thrilled. Sure, it was unpaid, but it meant amazing experience for my C.V, doing something I hadn’t done before, and pushing myself even further. They only needed a few hours a week from me so I thought ‘Sure! I’ve got that to spare!’ and quickly accepted their offer.
It was at this point that I knew I could no longer wing my routine and that I had to be a little more organised with my time. The internship required set days and I still wanted to work as much as possible at my now full-time job. I was really lucky that I could ask for set days at that job to work around my internship. I really wanted to continue with my writing as well, so pencilled a few hours in after my internship each week for that.
Since then, I’ve had a promotion at my full-time job and been asked to do even more writing work. It’s really encouraging to know that I’m good at what I’m passionate about and that I can go somewhere with it.
The balancing act
I won’t lie and say that I’m not busy 24/7. Sometimes I feel the effects of it pretty hard. For instance, I did a night shift the other day, got home at 7 am, and slept for a couple of hours before needing to do my internship. Not everyday is like that of course, but it’s not until I stop that I feel the effects of it.
I’ve spoken about my volunteering before, which is something I also really love and dedicate an evening a week to. My friends sometimes say I spread myself a little too thin, but I’m so thrilled with all of these opportunities that I don’t want to give any of them up. It keeps my life varied, busy and exciting.
I still find time to sleep, exercise and socialise which I think is really important. But I do always have to schedule it so it doesn’t disturb my balancing act. Everything goes into my calendar, which I share with my boyfriend so he can try and keep up with my schedule too.
The Future
Since taking on my writing work, I’ve had the opportunity to take on more and more. It’s the direction I think I want my future to take, so I’ve made the decision to cut down my hours at my stable full-time job. It didn’t feel risky or scary at all, just a natural progression of my life and passions. My internship might lead to a job as well, so I need to make sure I have enough breathing space for that too.
My job in retail isn’t going anywhere any time soon but I know that I’m slowly moving away from it. That thought is a little scary, but a lot more exciting. I’ve got no idea where exactly I’ll be in a year’s time, but the opportunities I’ve given myself by taking on multiple jobs is never something I’ll regret. Even if I am a *bit* tired.