Wow! It’s been ages since I’ve blogged but I am glad to be back on it. Thanks to everyone who has waited on me, many people will understand finishing the final year of uni, especially if you are a perfectionist takes TOO MUCH TIME!
Nevertheless I will be aiming to post new and exciting content more regularly…and that brings me onto my next point.
As humans we are driven to always want more, have more. We tend to pile these aspirations, dreams and expectations on our shoulders, which stems from our passion, interests and abilities. However when does it get too much?
From the moment we are competent, independent and vocal we work towards those goals, even when we’re young, vulnerable and naive, we start to question what we want to become? And sometimes how we would get there? This is not bad at all, in fact it’s important to, but we never tend to stick to that idea for too long. As we grow, we are exposed to a whole lot more and learn different things that pique our interests.
For example, when I was in primary school I had this dream I would want to be a dancer, singer or actor. When I began Secondary school, my desire leaned towards becoming a journalist because I love the notion of escaping, exploring the outside, capturing moments and breathing it in to tell a story.
This dream eventually was put on halt, parked to aside because I was fed and told that becoming a scientist or an IT technician would be better for me. Although, in my heart I knew it wasn’t, English (the subject) has always been my favourite and I have always been great at it so who’s to stop my potential, right?
Either way, I reflected on other areas of my interests. I’ve always been passionate and caring, the thought of looking after, talking to and supporting someone was a goal. During mid to end of my sixth form experience, my mind was battling between being a social worker, or a research scientist who worked abroad (in poorer countries) and for a very long time I was adamant this would be it that I would accomplish something, do something for the world as it does for me.
It was when I was applying for Universities, I was completing my UCAS forms to become a social worker, specifically working with children. When reviewing my decision to go to Uni, my aim was to have a great experience and during my time I’ve met incredible people from there, but I still think it’s not worth the effort, time and money and definitely would have done an apprenticeship or something.
So for those who are thinking of going to University - I would say carefully look at your options, you may be able to do the same thing through a different route. Truthfully abs respectively, Uni can suck the life out of your passions and by the time you leave you’ll probably end up wanting to do something else. Then again, it’s a choice only you can make and should feel confident to fulfil.
Very often we are wired to conform to society’s influence and demands, for example, most people were applying for Uni at the time, my friends and my family were also encouraging me to go too and not knowing many who have been already, I wasn't able to gain that insight I needed to help me make a choice. Also, there wasn’t many opportunities to navigate a more easier and effective route like apprenticeships. It’s only now they are encouraging a wider scope to allow individuals to access their ambitions easier.
But anyways let’s rewind to applying for universities, so at the time I had to visit numerous universities I was interested in to see what I wanted to apply for, and it was there where I learnt about Psychology, the study of the mind so I put the idea of working with children with this and knew that this would be interesting to explore. I mean I have a lot of experience working with children, so stapled this as a career option.
The time came, University wasn’t everything I thought it would be, from finding it difficult to receive support to your lecturers not knowing who you even are. Nevertheless, the University experience was insightful and enlightening, it allowed me to become more independent and learn so much about myself and the world around me which is an experience in itself. Challenges and opportunities both came my way like being on the local radio twice, providing me with choices and options for the future.
In the final year of Uni, well this was the year where I had to find my feet, start looking at jobs, looking at the next step, or did I? I genuinely think we as humans never stop and think, take a deep breath and be absent from the “what next”, we are constantly focusing on the next move. I believe it is important to hold gratitude and be present, look at the great things you have done, applaud yourself on the journey you’ve been on, the successes you achieved, the downfalls you faced but you got up and kept walking. All this needs a round of applause! But anyways, I was coming to the end of my degree and I thought about the next step as you do but my desires and interests slightly shifted. All of a sudden, writing came back to me (the idea of journalism or journaling at least), fashion and design (if you know me, you know I love to dress up) and cooking (allows me to be creative and be innovative with my dishes), it was all these that fascinated me the most sooo….
My intention is to pursue these all, hopefully professionally also. My first step was starting this blog, and it’s had a lot of support so thank you! I will also be utilising my other platforms to showcase my skills and interests and to create more and different content for you all. I hope to be fully determined, find more opportunities that allow me to access all these interests whilst continuing my journey in child psychology.
When writing this blog, I have been through a variety of experiences such as applying for masters. Now I know this may seem very controversial, I’m glad I’ve done it. I want to master my plan and study a field that will allow me to achieve my wish and end goal which is Journalism and writing. I feel like the course will allow me to broaden my horizons and provide me with many values I would be unable to get that without the degree. So in this case, it’s time to go back, challenge myself again, and achieve the many things I know I haven’t done yet. This time it’s about taking risks and reaching outside my comfort zone!
The message I wish to put across is that throughout our whole lifetime, we find many opportunities, meet various challenges, take different routes and keep changing our minds, which then puts pressure on us making us feel low. The goal is to always be ambitious but be realistic, don’t think so far ahead, just think up to 3 - 5 years ahead but even then being present will treat you better. Don’t stress about the inevitable, and if something doesn’t work one way or the first time, you find another way of getting there and keep trying. Change your perspective and it will change you for the better.
Signing out x