The 10 Stages Of Post-Uni Grief

It’s that time of year again! A whole herd of sleepy final year caterpillars are emerging from their cocoons as beautiful, grown-up butterflies. In theory, that is.

In reality, finishing university is a strange and sometimes worrying time. A period of excitement and pride, and a whole lot of uncertainty thrown in for good measure.

Here are the ten stages of university grief.

1. Relief!

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Walking out of your final exam or handing over your dissertation, an unfamiliar feeling engulfs you. Suddenly all the stress, pressure and panic has been forgotten, and you feel like you’re floating to the pub for your celebratory pint.

That, my friend, is pure, unadulterated relief!

2. Celebration – it’s party time!

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Now’s the time for the big blowout! This night is gonna be messy. Roll on the cheesy chips at 3am!

3. Panic – wait, am I really done?

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Three years, gone. In a blink of an eye, your whole university experience is over. But you don’t feel grown up enough to have reached this milestone. Weird.

4. Nervousness

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Waiting and waiting and waiting. Isn’t it funny how you got marked down if your work was submitted late, but lecturers can leave you hanging for your final grade?

5. Freedom

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After weeks of waking up early and falling asleep in your books, you’re finally free. Lie in bed until 2pm? Why not. Eat cereal for dinner? It’s worked for the last three years.

Can you remember ever feeling this relaxed?

6. Pride (and more celebration)

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Throw that hat in the air! Its graduation season. Time to celebrate your hard work and achievements with your friends.

7. Boredom

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For your whole existence, your life has been about education. Got that nagging feeling that there’s something you should be doing right now? There are only so many re-runs of Game Of Thrones that you can watch…

Cue ceiling staring.

8. Doubt

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Now the hype of finishing university has died down, what are you going to do about finding a job? How do you even know which career you’re interested in? Wait… Shouldn’t you have a job by now? And what the heck is a cover letter?

9. Nostalgia – take me back!

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Lets face it: the 9-5 isn’t as great as university was. No more afternoon naps and no more weekly catch ups with Jezza Kyle. You barely remember the last time you got totally drunk and you’re missing your uni family way too much.

Then again, it’s nice to have clean washing and nobody stealing your milk.

10. Fear, excitement, shock.

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Yes! You go Glen Coco! You’ve got your first graduate job and we’re super proud.

This is a whole new chapter you’re jumping into now. University was incredible, but now it’s time for a new challenge.

You’ve got this.

Rebecca Miller is a freelance multimedia journalist and graduate from Bournemouth University. You can check out her online portfolio here and find her on LinkedIn here.

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