Graduating University
Hello!
My name is Margarita Louka, and I am a recent Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), BA (Hons) Illustration graduate. I am writing as a guest blogger today, and I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss university from a different perspective- a graduate’s perspective. I now work in the International Office at AUB, doing all sort of varied tasks, such as helping out at events and Orientation, arranging campus tours, answering student queries, and lots of admin stuff!
Graduation. It seems to be in the back of everyone’s mind during their final year. The worries are constant and common: will I find a job? Where will I live? How will I manage my bills/money/rent/tax and all those things that come with being a working person?
Graduation was definitely an emotional day. I have had the best four years of my life at Arts University Bournemouth! I have lived in Bournemouth since I was 17; I came to AUB for my Foundation Year, and completed my Illustration degree here. Like most students, I feel like I have done a lot of growing up in one town.
The Illustration course at AUB was incredible, and you can’t beat the feeling of walking into the studio everyday and spending all day working on your project, surrounded by your course mates. The tutors were amazing, I’ve made friends for life, and I have learned so much in such a short time.
Graduating is not as scary as it seems. I’ve realised that I spent too much time worrying about it, so I have compiled a list of tips for all the third years out there worrying about life after graduation:
Focus on your course before anything else. It’s no use constantly worrying about something that is inevitable, and getting a good grade should be the priority.
Make sure you are applying to the right jobs. I have definitely made the mistake of applying to lots of creative roles that were not suited for me, all because I was desperate to “just get a job already”!
You need to work to get where you want to be. My friend, who graduated a year before me, told me: “No one starts out where they want to end up”. I found that to be very true after graduation. I feel very lucky to get a good start to working life with my job at AUB. However, as you might know if you are a creative, lots of creative jobs are freelance. It is a bit difficult to go into being a full-time freelancer right away. You might need a full, or part-time job before you go fully freelance, and that is completely fine! Just keep that vision of where you want to be in your head, and you will eventually get closer and closer to your goal.
Be happy for your friend’s successes! It is easy to feel envious when your friend lands a good commission, but don’t. Remember, your friends are people that were there for you throughout university. You should be there for each other after graduation, through the successes and the harder times.
Be proud of how much you’ve learned while at university, and be proud of your degree! It is easy to forgot and take for granted your progress, but try to acknowledge how much you’ve grown during your degree!
Take your time considering whether you want to do a Masters Course. I panicked after graduation and considered applying to do a Masters, even though I wasn’t ready to commit to a course. Make sure you are ready to do a Masters Course, instead of rushing into it because you are not sure what you’re doing after graduating.
As an International student living abroad, it will probably be a bit harder as you have to tackle moving by yourself. Try to be organised with bills and tax and you’ll be completely fine! Remember that you are not doing this journey alone- you can always ask for help from your friends with the moving process.
It’s important to remember that everyone’s experience after graduating will be completely different. Enjoy the ride! It’s a huge learning curve to graduate, and there are so many exciting things waiting for you.
Be proud that you’ve earned that degree, and remember that graduating is just another exciting beginning!