Goodbye Growing Up and Hello Living Like Peter Pan

September 13, 2012
By: Rosie Hill

When I sat down to write this piece, I meant to write what my expectations and hopes were for third year. Perhaps regale you with some witty observations of my recently graduated friends and end with an uplifting message on how university has been the best time of my life and I wish I could stay forever. When I began however, I got two lines in and stopped. I then proceeded to sit staring at my laptop for forty minutes without writing a single word. It wasn’t writer’s block, I knew what I wanted to say. I guess I just thought if I wrote it down it made it real. This is my last year of freedom before entering the adult work of jobs and mortgages and quite frankly I’m not ready for that.

How am I in my third year already?! I still remember moving into halls as a scared fresher and thinking that I was definitely not grown up enough for that. Yet here I am, a year away from graduation and not feeling any more grown up than I did two years ago.

University is, in theory, supposed to equip you with the skills to face the aforementioned ‘adult world’ and not fall flat on your face. Degrees are supposed to make the job hunt easier, yet the media keep telling us how many graduates are left unemployed after achieving first class degrees. Or they are forced to return to their pre-uni jobs just to earn a living and attempt to pay back that sizable student loan. It’s incredibly rare for anyone to walk out of uni and straight into that glittering dream job. And everyone has a dream job.

My expectations for third year are much the same as they were for second year. My workload will double and my nights out halve, but that’s okay. I opted not to do a dissertation this year, it wasn’t compulsory and in all honesty, why would I put myself under all that extra stress if I don’t have to? I am reading English, so I’ve proven I can write an academic essay – also judging by my workload for this year, I’ll be writing more than enough essays! Whilst I won’t be out partying every other night this year, it just means that when I do go out I’ll fully make up for the nights I’ve missed.

It’s not my expectations for third year that worry me; it’s my expectations for life after university. Will I get a job? When will I move out of home? Will I get married? All of these things sound far too much like responsibility and as I feel I will be shackled to that for the rest of my life, surely another year of procrastination can’t hurt?

Words cannot describe how excited I am to be back at university in the next few weeks. Don’t get me wrong, this summer has been amazing, but I need to get back. Back to my house and my independence, where it is perfectly acceptable to wake up at 3pm, shower and put clean pyjamas on. It’s my last year to embrace the student lifestyle and I fully intend to.

So for now I am going to attempt to put these thoughts of ‘adulthood’ to the back of my head and concentrate on more important things. Like thinking of fancy dress ideas for Freshers week, and if I can live off cereal for a week to afford the lush Topshop heels I need. That will be the biggest decision I will make for a year – so goodbye growing up and hello living like Peter Pan.