Hello! For those of you who don't already know me, I'm Rebecca. I'm 23, I have an undergraduate degree and a (soon to obtain) postgraduate degree in psychology and I'm from Manchester! *sorry, I couldn't resist the urge to turn that into a quiz show introduction*. And I am the gal behind One Oh One (alongside my friend, Lucy - who you will be meeting soon). I've already posted about what One Oh One is, and what you can expect (which you can read here) but in a nutshell, I'm going to take you on a trip down memory lane to tell you a little story about how I experienced the transition out of university.
I bloody loved my three years at university, and before I went, I had NO idea of what I had planned afterwards. I think I only went to university because so many people were going and it felt like the next step after college. And so when it came to a few months before graduation, I thought 'shit...' okay, now I really need to think about what I want to do now. And as hard as I tried, I couldn't hide from those 'so, what are your plans for after you graduate?' questions. Internalising that, I started to plan. I liked writing and was writing for our student magazine at uni, the local paper in Huddersfield, and online publication, The National Student. I thought, okay... publishing, let's have a look at that route. After a lot of emailing and sending cover letters and CVs to so many independent publishers in the North West, I managed to secure two internships at two publishing houses for over the summer. Despite loving both of them, I felt this guilt that I had been studying psychology for three years and was going to 'throw it away' for a career in publishing. And what would people think about that?! It would be such a waste of money... But I didn't have to think too long about a career because I managed to secure funding to study for an MRes at my university. Ahhh, one more year of blissful ignorance and no need to plan for my future just yet.
Whilst I was in the weird bubble of almost out of education, but not - studying away from the campus as it was a research MSc... I had moved back home with my mum and her partner. And boy, was that a struggle. It took so long to get used to being back in my childhood home, under my mum's roof and rules. Being told, 'don't be going to bed too late', 'don't forget to set your alarm' etc., I was 18 again. It was tough to feel as though I had failed, although I had zero funds to move out. I missed my independence. But I got used to it, and of course, I don't want to live with my mum forever, but at current, I am happy and grateful it is giving me the chance to save up money to move.
Whilst carrying out my research into the transition out of university, I realised that transition was an area within psychology that really interested me. I got in touch with my old sixth form out of curiosity to see if they had any work experience available, explaining my interest was in transition and facilitating successful transitions. I didn't expect anything back, but after a couple of weeks, I received a reply to say that they were actually looking to hire new staff members and would I be interested in going and speaking about the role. Long story short, what began as me enquiring for work experience became me being hired on a contract as an Educational Support Assistant! I was still carrying out my research when I began working full-time and was finding it difficult to balance the two, having to drive up to Huddersfield for meetings with my thesis supervisors. But after work agreeing to make changes to my contract hours until I completed my thesis, I was able to successfully balance a job and my studies and at that point, I knew I was going to be okay once I finished my MSc.
Working in a learning support role completely unexpectedly and off plan has opened so many doors and provided me with so many developmental opportunities... and I've realised what I want to do next. And it has been difficult to get used to the expectations of what my life after university is supposed to be like - both from myself and others. What kind of job I'm expected to get, how I should travel the world before I settle down, how I should not travel the world and should get onto that career ladder, when I should be moving out of my mum's home, what kind of money I should be on etc., etc., And what I say to that is, SCREW THAT. Screw the expectations, screw your own pressures, life in the real world is messy, we don't have a clue what we're doing because, to be fair, we've never really been prepared for it. (What is a mortgage? What is tax? How do you pay bills? How do you work full-time without feeling like a slave to the system? What is a 'proper job'?) It's going to be messy, and it's going to be difficult, but how you handle your next steps after university is no one's business but your own.
And One Oh One is here. A platform for advice sharing, for graduates to share their own stories about their transition. And for me to share my research, to help those making the transition, and those struggling with adjusting to life in the 'real world' feel prepared to tackle it. So please get in touch, please email me with your advice and tips, and your stories and your creative work and help me to create a space for graduates to come together and realise that we can survive outside of our bubble of education.
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