It is over! C’est fini! Se acabó! After 18 long years, the shackles of full-time education have been lifted. I am free!

I’m free to enter the workforce, start paying taxes, eventually re-enter some form of education to further my career, and take on more responsibility in nearly all aspects of my life…

Man, that doesn’t sound fun.

But before I deal with the burdens that befall a ‘real adult’, I thought I’d reflect on my 4 years at university by interviewing myself.

---

 

Bold = Interviewer Ife

Regular = Ex-student Ife

---

 

Ife, congrats! How does it feel to be finished [with your degree]?

Good. Really good. Especially given how tough it was to stay motivated and push through the final few months.

It is also a little strange. I’m not sure I know how to exist in a world without exams and assignment deadlines.

I’m sure you’ll manage to adjust. You mentioned that the last few months were especially challenging, is that why you took a bit of a break from your blog?

Yep. A lot of energy was expended trying to convince myself not to drop out, so I had to conserve brain power wherever I could.

(She laughs) I’m kidding… Kinda.

In all honesty, I think I just needed a break to really internalise the messages of the two most recent posts. I needed to focus on doing my best to finish this chapter well and keep door knocking to find out what comes next.

Hopefully, I’ll get back to writing very soon.

That’s good to hear. Going back to the completion of your degree, now that it has all been said and done, is there anything that you are going to miss about student life?

Mid-day naps. I took them for granted when I was a child. I’m going to miss them severely.

Anything else?

Umm… This is kind of in the same vein, but I guess the flexibility of the student calendar. Especially over the past 18 months, with online learning, I’ve been in charge of how my days are shaped and structured, with limited external input. Even when we had in-person teaching, there were days where I opted not to go to lectures. I didn’t always deem them beneficial to my learning and sometimes independent studying or some extra hours of sleep were a better course of action. So, I’ll definitely miss that freedom and flexibility that comes with being a uni student.

Interesting. I hear that nap-less, structured workdays can be tough, but I have faith in your ability to adapt.

Thanks, much appreciated.

Anytime. So, what would you say were the biggest highlights of the past 4 years?

Okay, let me think for a second. I’ll give you one highlight from each year.

For first year, the trip to Amsterdam with the basketball team was a lot of fun. I got to see a new country, bond with my teammates, and get to know the male team a bit better. The high jinks that ensued also gave me several fun anecdotes.

(She takes a long pause)

I don’t know why, but I think I’ve mentally blocked out second year, so I’m struggling to come up with something.

Don’t worry, take your time.

I think I’ll say the movie nights of second year were a highlight. I had some great ones with my housemates but also invited different friends over. It was definitely my most hospitable year. Decent, and/or ridicule-worthy entertainment, and good conversations in the company of good people is always a good time.

The highlight of third year was being part of the Word society [a campus-based spoken word and poetry society]. Getting to see the idea we proposed to the SU [Student Union] come to life was great. I enjoyed hosting and participating in the different events and workshops. Producing the [poetry] anthology was also a cool project. It was something fresh and new to be a part of and challenged me in a different way, forcing me out of my comfort zone.

Fourth year is a tough one because Covid largely restricted my uni experience to the four walls of my bedroom. But I’d say that a highlight of this year was the progress I achieved in a particular module.

I picked the module because it was very different to anything I had previously studied, but that also meant I was a little out of my depth. After I got an okay-ish mark on the 1st assignment, I presumed that this was going to be an area where I slightly underperformed. But as each new assignment rolled around, I learned more, I gained further competency in the software and was able to use previous feedback to better my work.

At the time of submitting each of the coursework pieces, I still felt like my work was borderline terrible and grounded in questionable assumptions and guesses. I was never confident in what I was submitting but just hoped each one was slightly less terrible than the last, and to my surprise it was.

The upward progression of my marks in that module is one of the academic achievements that I’m most proud of. Not only because of the grades achieved but also because of the way I was able to manage the assignments in the midst of other deadlines, exams, and non-academic stress factors.

Nice, well done. I like how those highlights were very different from one another, yet each played a key role in shaping your experience. Would you say that the things you just mentioned were part of what you enjoyed most about university?

Yes and no. Other than the struggles with the module, I thoroughly enjoyed those highlights. However, I’d say that what I’ve enjoyed most about being at university is the independence. Getting to live away from home, not having to answer to anyone but myself, gaining the liberties of adulthood without yet being fully burdened with all the responsibilities. The independence has allowed me to meet new people, try new things, and most importantly for me, really get to know and befriend myself.

The freedom university has provided me in getting to come into my own as a competent, independent adult has been the most enjoyable part… Even if it meant having to deal with rat infestations, loud neighbours who love 2 am karaoke, and multiple busted boilers along the way.

Wow, 2 am karaoke?

Yep, and also every Sunday afternoon. Thanks to our 2^nd year neighbours I can never enjoy Adele’s music in the same way.

Okay, so switching gears, what would you say was the hardest part of your student experience?

Ahh, that’s a tough one. There were many challenges. You know what? I’ll cheat and give you two answers, the biggest pre-Covid challenge and the thing I struggled with most during Covid.

Pre-Covid, I’d say that the work-life balance was the hardest part. There was no set 9 to 5 working day. This allowed for flexibility, but it also meant that the lines between academic and recreational life weren’t clear. So, trying to make sure I didn’t overwhelm myself with work and burnout was a real challenge.

I imagine that Covid made that worse?

Yeah, it did. But it also introduced a larger difficulty, the inability to see that others were struggling too.

For me, one of the best parts of in-person lectures was walking to them with coursemates and waiting for the academics to arrive. During this time, you’d hear people talk about how they are 5 weeks behind on lecture notes or complain about how useless so-and-so’s teaching is or how badly run module X is. It was great because you knew that you weren’t the only one feeling this way, no one had their life together.

When stuck in your room alone, you sometimes forget that.

You forget that the pace the lecturer wants you to go at is not realistic and barely 5% of your coursemates will even glance over this week’s additional optional homework content, until two weeks before the exam. Though group chats exist, it doesn’t hold a candle to mutual, face to face, commiseration.

That’s understandable.

Do you have any regrets? Or if you could go back in time, is there anything you’d do differently?

No… not really. I did query my life choices regularly. At times the workload had me questioning why I was willingly entering thousands of pounds worth of debt to endure such suffering. But generally, I don’t have regrets.

The actions I took, good and bad, brought me to where I am today and made me who I am right now. I’m pretty content with the outcome.

The growth I’ve experienced over the past 4 years has been invaluable. It’s been a product of circumstances and choices made. Doing things differently would change that, and not necessarily for the better.

Speaking of growth, how would you say the university experience has changed you/ helped you develop?

In too many ways to list.

I am more self-aware and self-confident and now value my voice more. I’m a quiet person by nature and I’m not always the best at verbally articulating my thoughts. At the start of 1^st year, I remember muttering “speaking is overrated” to myself on multiple occasions. My mentality has changed a lot since then. Over time I’ve begun to say what I think more and understand that communicating my thoughts can be of benefit to myself and others, even when my delivery isn’t perfect.

I’ve also gained a better appreciation for the relationships I have. I enjoy solitude and thrive very much in isolation. But over these four years, I’ve really come to appreciate that people are our biggest assets in life. Without having people to do life with, look out for me, and challenge me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

That’s good to hear. We are getting to the end of our time together, so I’ll just round off with this final question. What is next for you?

Well, do you know the song ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ by Coolio?  There’s a line that says, “I’m an educated fool with money on my mind.” That’s what I always envisioned describing myself as, come graduation day. I’d say it holds true to a certain degree.

I am now a little more educated. I would like to think that I am a little less foolish, but there is always more work to be done. As for money on my mind, I’m starting work very soon, which is exciting.

With regards to what the future holds, only God knows. I am going to be in a new town, in a new job, with new people to meet and new environments to explore. I am looking forward to what this new season of my life has to offer, but for now, I’m just taking it one day at a time.