After graduating (22th May) Thursday Evening WelcomeHome Workshops

---Considering the feeling of confliction and loss; the thought of a job

In this Thursday evening WelcomeHome workshop we talked about life after graduating…We noticed that graduation has two sides; on the positive side, we can finally say goodbye to our student life which is a great accomplishment. We can grow up and go on to enjoy our freedom, being an adult; on the other hand it also means more challenges and choices to face and more responsibilities to be taken by ourselves. It is not an easy thing and we need to prepare enough for our future. Graduation is a turning point which is important for everyone. 

In the workshop we got a chance to be aware of our feelings at the turning point. We pictured our future, talked about the meaning of a job for each person and we found some other choices after graduating apart from looking for a job. I hope you can be inspirited and be able to think in a different way about graduation, work and your future. There are some ideas according to what we have found. 

The Feeling of confliction and being lost after graduating

To be able to be aware of and clarify our feelings is always important, as it will help us to understand ourselves and make the right decision which is truly good for us.  

Many of us feel conflicted, like we are struggling and lost when are going to graduate. It is difficult for us to make decisions for our future. For example, where shall we go? And what shall we do? etc. There are suddenly many choices that come all at once. However, at the same time it feels like we actually have no choice at all. 

I think the reason is we do not get used to making decisions by ourselves. After many years being a student we get used to following the instructions of parents or tutors. We have been told by them that graduating and having a good result from studying is our main goal in our life. They gave us a specific goal which is graduating, and then help us to make it step by step. For example, they arranged various courses for us to study; they set homework or a reading list for us to achieve the course. They give us the questions and teach us the way to find the answers. They are like our guide in a maze who can always help us to find the way out, and we can just follow them. However graduating means we are going to lose the guides. Then we are free, but alone. No one will tell us what we should do, no more homework, no more reading. However everything becomes unsure and unclear.

Our future is a new world like a more complicated maze, and without the guide we can easily get lost. We do not know where the way out is and even not for sure whether it exists. There is no one who will give us a specific goal like graduation to pursue. Nobody can tell us what is right or wrong, as no one knows the rules. There is no fixed grade table which can measure how good or bad we are anymore. Instead, we have to find the goal, make the rules and make a grade table and a plan or homework by ourselves. As after graduating, it is our future and only ourselves that can take responsibility for it and known what is good for us. Others can only help us to do it. However no one can do it for us. This is the truth of growing up and being independent and taking responsibility for ourselves. Even though it sounds difficult and maybe cruel, but I believe everyone has the ability to do it and we will enjoy the result which is the future created by ourselves.

In a word, I think the feeling of confliction and being lost is normal as we are standing on the edge of moving from student life to a professional life, becoming adult. There are still many things to learn even though we are not a student anymore. The first thing we should learn is to find the goal for ourselves, then find the way to achieve it. 

So are you ready for it?

---

Do we really need a job now?

It seems like finding a job becomes the biggest issue after we graduate. However, is it the only thing or the most important thing we can or we should do after we graduate? I suppose many of us may have never thought about some basic questions before looking for a job. The first question is what does a job mean to us? And why do we need a job? A job for different people may have different meanings. When we talked about this question in the workshop the answers include personal development, achievement, independence, wealth, satisfying parents’ and friend’s expectation, gain more life experiences etc. Then we realised that a job may not be the only way to achieve these. We can also do such things as being a volunteer, travelling, continuing to study, adventure, creating our own business, get married or maybe just have a relaxing time at home and enjoy the peaceful moment. So we have got a question at last that is do we really need a job right now? 

This Thursday we talked about feelings and general ideas about work and the future. I hope it can be a good start for your new life, to help you to think about what is really good for yourselves. Not for anybody else, like parents, tutors, friends, but you. As now it is your future, it is only for you!

Thanks for everyone who came and shared with others. Thanks for Matt who facilitated last week’s workshop but is not in the photo as he was being our photographer! 

This week we are going to keep our topic which is After we graduate… We will focus on more details relevant with work and future.

---

Book your ticket at: http://welcomehomesp.eventbrite.co.uk

Or visit our official website: www.welcomehomeuk.com

Share0