So you completed school – what now?

To those of you who have finally crossed that finish line of school, well done. What felt like forever is finally over to your relief. So what now?

I’m sure many of you are now looking at your next stage of life, be that uni, workforce, or even a year of unbridled freedom as a break. Speaking as someone who has seen many students graduate, I wanted to throw my 2 cents in. This period marks the first real ‘off the rails’ part of your life. Prior to this, year 4 went on to year 5 as it went on to year 6 and so on. Though you would be mistaken in thinking this year coming worked in the same way.

You have likely heard many people tell you the ‘real-world’ is harder than school. It’s hard to say if this is true. At school, there is a massive pressure to perform. To be frank, life can be harder or easier depending on what you do. The guaranteed difference is that the real world doesn’t really care too much whether you try, or you don’t. Miss an assignment in school and you might fail and get a detention. If you choose not to improve yourself after finishing school…nothing happens. To clarify, you stagnate while the people you knew continue to change for better or worse.

There is a positive side to this side to this wide west you’re entering. You become accountable to no one but yourself. Yes, you might have a boss or family you consider yourself accountable towards, but the reality is, you are the one sailing your own ship. With access to the internet, almost anyone can upskill themselves in whatever respect they desire.

If like me, you were asked to make your captain’s call on what you wanted to do for the rest of your life in grade 10, you have my sympathy. Here’s my hot take on that, no one knows what they want to at that age. Of course you’re not going to have a good grasp of what’s good, you hadn’t experienced anything school didn’t let you experience (career wise). People spend a lifetime annoyed with what they do for work, so make use of the internet to try as many things that interest you. You’ve struck gold when you find something you enjoy, and it’s also something other people are paying for.

So whatever it is you’ve decided to pursue after school, make sure that you continue improving yourself so that when you do find something you genuinely want to do, you will have the skills to back it up.