My Final Year At University!

Hey Guys x

I've done this yearly round-up post three times and for each I've used the same background photo, please appreciate the consistency!

So, I have officially finished university... kind of. If I passed all of my modules, then I'm completely done. I had no exams this year, so it was just a whole lot of essays to perfect, and now that I've done that and handed them in, I'm worry-free until results day in July!

I thought I would feel relieved to say that, and in a way I definitely am. But as I'm sure is understandable, I can't let myself get too happy until I actually get those results. And even then, there's a niggling hint of worry about what comes next. The whole 'adult in the big wide real world' thing, like when you hear the stories of graduates who don't go on to do anything because they can't get a job, that's a huge worry. But I'm giving myself a little bit of time before I have to start full-on worrying.

However, this post is about reflecting on the last year, so let's get back to that.

This last year was probably the best I had in terms of my tutors and the fact that I knew I wasn't revising for any exams. In my uni, and in most I'd assume, you get to submit a draft of your first (and sometimes second) essays and get feedback, so the big pressure comes from re-drafting this. But throughout the year this isn't something that you need to worry too much about.

This year I found myself working harder than I probably ever have. Whether that meant reading books weeks in advance and making notes, spending all my time on those first drafts of essays, or preparing weeks in advance for class discussion, I did it all. And I think that's a pretty good representation of the last year. It kicks your butt into gear and really reminds you of everything that you've spent the last three (or however many) years working towards.

The other interesting thing I found out about this year, from the standpoint of an English Literature student, is that the books on the reading list this year were so much better than in previous years! Not that I don't like reading classic books, but this year I got to study Caribbean literature and American Crime fiction (like 'The Talented Mr. Ripley) and film adaptations of literature (like 'The Birds') and I found that so much fun! I mean, I got to do one of my last essays on one of my favourite book-to-movie adaptations and I don't know how an English Lit essay could get better than that!

Oh, and before I forget, I have to also mention something that might have crossed your mind, along the lines of: 'She's in her last year... isn't she going to talk about her dissertation?'. Well, as well as studying English Lit, I am also a creative writing student. So I didn't realise this at the time of applying for the course, but one of the perks of studying creative writing is that... there's no dissertation! Instead, I had to do a piece of writing of over 9,000 words with a critical commentary of 3,000. Now, by no means was this easy, and I still worked incredibly hard on it until the day that I handed it in. But not having that dissertation that is talked about in secondary school to remind you of what hard work really is, I can't pretend that it wasn't a bit of a relief.

But yeah, I've finished my third and final year of university, and as worried as I am, I also feel kind of ready to get out there and see what the world has to offer!

Did you go to uni? What was your last year like? Tell me in the comments!

Lou