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Guide to: Life after school
Now more than ever, thinking about life after school is overwhelming for many. Some of you might feel a bit like the person in the gif above - I know I did when I finished school 😂
It’s exciting, nerve-wracking, sad and fun - all at once.
Post-school stress looks different for everyone. It might be:
- You or your family are unhappy with your year 12 exam results.
- Parting ways with life-long friends is getting you down.
- Fear about the future is on your mind.
- Starting at uni, college or TAFE is daunting.
- Struggling to decide what to do for work or study.
I think it’s important to acknowledge that the long-term impact of living through a pandemic complicates things too. A lot of people are experiencing:
- A loss of motivation and direction
- Discomfort with uncertainty
- Fear about leaving your home
- Loneliness
If you're doing it tough, you don't have to go through it alone. Here are some things you can do if you're stressing out:
- Create a post and chat with others feeling the same way.
- Check out some of our other events like this Ask Me Almost Anything on Redefining pathways to success.
- Read some of our articles:
Fear about the future: A guide for year 12 students
There are other ways to get into uni
- If things are getting too much it can help to chat with friends, a family member or a counsellor. You're entitled to free support using a mental health care plan. You can find someone to see in your local area using the Find a Psychologist directory.
Comments
This is such an important post @Bre-RO !! I was really scared when I was 18 and facing life after school. It's quite a massive transition and we all need support from our peers and trusted advisors to get through it.
I was wondering if I could recommend a resource. headspace have their work and study program and their career mentorship program. They are both free, online/over the phone, and don't need a referral or anything like that. I have used both and they were honestly just phenomenal. My work and study counsellor helped me brainstorm and find a pathway when I had just graduated uni in a full lockdown and had no confidence and no idea where to go with my adult life. My mentor is always cheering for me, and is helping me set career goals and find work/life balance. I think everyone should have great advisors like that and I really recommend people to check it out 🙂
Hi @lemurien, thanks for sharing. You are so right, leaving school is such a big step! One moment you are studying in school... the next you are an adult with a new kind of pressure. Where did all the time go?!
So glad that you have found Headspace's program to be helpful. It sounds like you have made some long term supports that really make a difference to your life. How amazing
thanks guys, it makes such a difference having 'adultier' adults you can go to for guidance! Even when you have supportive parents/guardians/family members, it's just helpful hearing about adulting from a lot of different perspectives. What I have realised is there are millions of ways to go about your post-school life, even though when you're facing that change, it feels like there's only one Right Way and if you don't figure it out, you'll mess up your whole life. So that's why it's awesome to hear from different trusted adults and find out what their path has been like.
Another piece of advice I have is that you can reach out to any teachers, coaches, aunties/uncles/cousins, etc, any adult you know who you really admire their approach to life, and just ask them some questions! I have done this with teachers at high school and uni. They were always so happy to help. You could ask how did they find their passion, or what did they do after high school, or how did they end up where they are today? I often discovered they had a rocky start to their post-school life, or that they tried and failed many times before becoming the person I saw them as today. I heard really cool stories about adventures they had been on, that were often born out of mistakes that then turned out to be awesome opportunities.
I'm really passionate on this topic lately, because I was so scared but I'm finally getting to a place where I want to be, and it's all thanks to the support I was able to gather from the amazing people around me 🙂 (That includes RO, big time!!)
I love the term "adultier adult" 🤣there is always an adultier adult, no matter your age, and it makes such a huge difference to talk things out with one.
You're spot on about discovering that many people have a rocky start to their post-school life. I have noticed that those rocky starts are what inspires people's career paths in the end.
It might be a bit corny, but the whole "it's the journey, not the destination" is so true in my experience 🙂there are so many people I wouldn't have met, places I wouldn't have seen if it weren't for taking the scenic route after school.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience @lemurien it makes me smile to read that RO was part of your post-school journey!