It’s pretty difficult to contemplate leaving this place and, in the paraphrased words of a certain pesky little Gollum, “never coming back”, but then again I figured, I’m never really leaving for good. I’m not leaving right this very second either. I still have a whole two months of hardcore dissertation finalising and essay crafting to push through.
This next little period of time has proven to be the final stretch. The sprint finish, if you will. It’ll no doubt disappear in an instant, so I might as well enjoy it whilst I can. Obviously it’s a very odd time for any student on the brink of finishing education altogether, so I’ve compiled together some thoughts to help curb any worries:
It’s Not Really Leaving Forever
I’ve said this already but it’s slowly becoming my mantra right now. Although my course at the University of Southampton might be ending, I’m leaving my student house here and my ID card will no doubt stop letting me into the libraries on campus (boohoo), I’m never gone for good. It’s not like the very second I leave Southampton the whole place will vanish into a puff of smoke and cease to exist.
In fact, I still have a whole heap of friends and acquaintances here (not forgetting my girlfriend, who has another year left on her course) meaning that travelling back for the odd weekend is pretty much a given. I might not live here anymore, but I’ll still be coming back!
Leaving this lot will be tough, but they’re not gone forever
You Get To Be A Real Adult
I mentioned a little while back that, for a lot of students, the fun comes from occupying that wonderful little ‘Goldilocks zone’ in between being an adult and a child. You end up embracing the best of both worlds.
This obviously means though that when you finally stop being a student, you do have to take the whole ‘adult’ thing more seriously, but that shouldn’t be something to be afraid of. Being an adult, earning your own money and maybe even raising a family are pretty much the most exciting parts of life - everything we’ve experienced so far is just the precursor to that.
To borrow an analogy from every boxing movie ever: being a student is the training montage before the actual fight. It’s super-fast, filled with incredible music and makes you feel on top of the world, but it’s not where the real meat of the story comes from. Don’t think of it as daunting, think of it as exciting; all those possibilities, with nothing holding you back from embracing any number of them.
It Doesn’t Have To End (If You Don’t Want It To)
Aside from sounding vaguely like the title of a grungy 90s rock ballad, this means exactly what it says in the title: if you don’t feel like you’ve gotten the most out of university, you don’t have to leave. This does mean finding another course (whether it be another undergraduate degree, or one of the University’s range of postgraduate taught and research programmes) but if you find one that suits you better than the working world, why not go for it?
You might find that you want academia to even become your career and never leave the university community ever, which again, is totally fine. This part of student life is all about finding what you want to do, and rolling with it.
Me personally? I’ll be brutally honest, I’m still figuring it out. I know it involves writing and films, but how I’m planning on combining these two remains to be seen.
Right now, top of the list is nailing my final assignments, and making these remaining months of student life the most incredible ones imaginable.
It’s not about dwelling on the sadness of leaving, it’s about looking forward to all the exciting prospects we have lined up for us. The friends I’ve made here may be moving slightly further away than what I’m used to, but they’ll always be there, and the same goes for Southampton.
Ben
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