STRUGGLES, MUSINGS AND ADVENTURES OF A FRESH GRADUATE ; Part 1

     

14.09.2018 🎓 🎊 I had finally made it out of campus! After years (talk about being a career student 😅) of hard work, crazy weeks and sleepless nights (but I love my sleep so the latest I'd get to bed was 12 Am, on rare occasions), I felt that I was now ready to tackle and navigate my way through the jungle called Real Life. 

Yet days and months after the graduation, all these little struggles started reeling in and eventually I started wondering how complicated life could possibly get. 

After the celebratory remarks and graduation hype, everyone went back to their own business. I was now alone, with not-so-much time (since I was still on internship) and very little bucks 💰 to spare. For sometime, I felt lost and clueless. See, I had my life figured out at some point. I thought I'd clear school in 2017 (but it wasn't the case, not at The UoN, almost everyone gets a bonus year of schooling 😂). Then I'd get a job, a well paying job to be precise. My parents and I had actually talked about how I'd apply for jobs at NGO's as soon as I was done with school. After working for a year or two I'd then settle down (I've always desired to settle down in my twenties and start my own litu family 👪... I just remembered something that I did in my 2nd year 🙈... I was part of a team in church and we were doing the prayer requests thing, so I wrote mine down and among them was that I'd have a great marriage life... I was pretty serious by the way... But people couldn't get it, "But you are in school, 2nd year tena. Maliza shule kwanza" They said)... 
Oh and before I forget! I'd acquire some wheels 🚗 not so long after landing a job. But we know too well that life does not always turn out the way we plan or expect it to. 
Then here were friends and relatives with "so now where will you be working? Have you found a job yet? Hiyo course yako mtu hupata job haraka?" 
I mean I had just fulfilled their curiosity about "when is your graduation". It was only fair that they allowed me to have some moment of soaking it in and planning on my next move. 
Then a few days or weeks after graduation some of the graduates had already secured jobs. Some were even offered jobs before the graduation. And the #workflow #grinding #GetThatMoney hash tags started streaming in. 
Suddenly, I started feeling pangs of anxiety and wondered if I was too lax in my applications. I had sent out a number and some got rejected, some went unattended. However, the fact that I was still on internship was quite a soother. I wanted to get to the end of the internship, before I landed a job, for the sole purpose of getting my licence. Which I did on 13.12.2018 🎓 in a black gown for the second time in a year 💃 Internship was now over, Coast life had been so good to me 🌴 🏊 (I secretly wish to go back at some point, for work this time around 😊)

          

            2nd graduation 🎓 (licensing)

Now, I had no excuse not to send as many applications as possible. And that's when it hit hard! I dreaded going back to Embu and just spending days in my parents house. They had played their most crucial role. I didn't want to just sit around, and somehow push them to even hustle and bustle harder. I wanted to do something and ease that burden. So I decided to stay in Nairobi and try out a few things. I knew that I wanted to start up a business, alongside a job,  just that I wasn't sure what industry I'd get into. So this one time, I attended a forum on Creative Money lead by Kanjii Mbugua courtesy of Maisha Skills and there was an interesting business idea that one of the attendees shared. I thought to myself, that's it. I enquired about it, the starting capital and all that. It sounded quite affordable. I talked to my parents and they eventually gave me the cash to start up. Little did I know that there were other costs along the way and a one month inspection period! That meant business would fully be functional at the end of January 2019. I hadn't planned on staying in the city during the festive season. So all business plans had to remain on hold until further notice. Of course, I was a little frustrated. Not to mention that my routine for the days was sending out applications, searching for all potential employers and business start ups that require less capital. A couple of times, I would find myself battling anxiety and over thinking tendencies, I'd be awake at very odd hours trying to figure out exactly where I was headed and what my life would amount to. 

Good thing, at that point, I had learnt how to break down my self installed sky-high, electric-wire-protected walls as along as boundaries and personal space were concerned (Introvert Problems 😢). I would occasionally share my thoughts and deepest worries with my next door neighbour (she's still in campus, thank you so much Linet for calmly listening to my rantings), my two closest girlfriends, my boyfriend and my immediate family. They kept reassuring me that this was just a phase, transitioning wasn't going to be easy but it wasn't a mission impossible. 

          

      Support system strong 💪 literally 😝

Again, I have come to appreciate the fact that in every journey, I am never alone. Even in this post graduation-transitioning-to-work-environment-phase, I am certainly not alone. Some have gone before me, others are experiencing it right now and others will experience it later. As I learnt earlier on, through my writer friend, Njeri Gichuki www.heavenlycourage.com , Post graduation depression is real. It can happen to pretty much anyone. But for every crazy rainy ☔ day there is a rainbow 🌈 symbolising hope and a promise of better days. I would proudly say that I have moved past the anxiety and I am ready to see better days... I have had some pretty good adventures and learnt a few lessons too. More of that on Part 2, loading up soon. 

My parents and siblings ♥  (but one young man is missing. Though miles away, his support is unmatched 😘 )

Like some of my articles, this one too is being published way past the intended timeline.. I first thought about it on 27th September, a fortnight after graduating. And here we are, publishing it today! All said and done, Better late than never. It might be the string of hope that a fresh graduate hangs on today and the next couple of days to come.