This week, Sian discusses finishing her degree in lockdown, her plans for the future, and how switching the news off from time-to-time can benefit your mental health.
As we enter the third week of our third lockdown, it’s fair to say that most people are getting pretty fed up of it, myself included. Thankfully, the measures seem to be working, with infection rates going down and more people getting vaccinated. The end is in sight, which cheers me up. I look forward to grandparents getting their vaccines; I’ll breathe a sigh of relief knowing they are safer.
My final term at university started this week, and I have mixed emotions about it. I’m sad that my four-year journey is coming to an end, but I’m excited to start the next chapter of my life and become a ‘real adult’. I also can’t wait to have my evenings and weekends back.
I feel lucky that I didn’t finish last year, as I’ve seen how hard it is for people my age to find a graduate job under these circumstances. However, this also means there’ll be even more competition for the next round of jobs which I will be applying for. The future is a bit daunting, and I need to start looking for a job worryingly soon, but who knows what our employment prospects will be like in six months?
"I feel lucky that I didn’t finish last year, as I’ve seen how hard it is for people my age to find a graduate job under these circumstances"
My original plan was to travel for a few months after university, as I didn’t take a gap year before; I feel like that isn’t going to be a viable option this year anymore. My dream trip to Bali, Australia, and New Zealand will have to wait. In the meantime, my boyfriend and I are buying a van to convert instead. It’s nice to have things like that to look forward to.
As I explained last week, my final term started this week, and I’m working from my parents’ home. I’m not in my usual work environment and, while I’m lucky to have a room where I can work in private, I am also missing a lot of my study materials. I have a back problem made worse because I don’t have a nice desk chair, I’m under pressure to do my analysis for my dissertation despite not having my analysis book, and the list goes on and on.
As someone with a history of mental health problems, I get worried when I can feel old feelings coming back because of all this added stress. I try to remind myself that I’m in a fortunate position compared to many, and all this will be over soon. I’m trying to think positively and actively engage in self-care, which involves lots of inside activities like reading, because of all the snow.
If anyone is struggling and feeling anxious about the daily death tolls and infection rates, one thing that can really help is to stop consuming so much news. I’m avoiding the news at the moment because I know it negatively affects my mental health; I know the pandemic is bad, and that’s as much as I can deal with.
"If anyone is struggling and feeling anxious about the daily death tolls and infection rates, one thing that can really help is to stop consuming so much news"
If you’re worried about missing an important update then pages like @simplepolitics on Instagram present the data in a less scary and more manageable way.
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