My best friend and I were just talking about
our futures and what we want to do. In this sort of instance, we’re two
completely different people. I have known since I was eleven years old that I
wanted to study journalism and here I am, almost nine years on, in my final
year of a journalism degree. I started off in uni studying a double bachelor of
business and journalism because I was urged by other people to get the extra
qualifications, and I convinced myself that for one extra year in university,
the extras were worth it. But once I started, I hated the business courses and
loved the journalism ones. To me, there was no point in hating going to class
every day and not getting good results just for the “extra qualifications,” so
I dropped out of the business degree and continued on with journalism. Now, I
will graduate from uni with my dream degree in less than eight months and
hopefully get a job in a field I love and enjoy working within.
I also studied a semester of my second year
(last year) abroad in Scotland. The opportunity allowed me to build friendships
with people my age from different places around the world (shout out to my
Americans – you know who you are) and gain experience living and studying in
different cultures and traveling through Europe. Now, I am studying five
subjects per semester this year and working 20+ hours in my shitty little
waitressing job, all so I can move to London the day after I graduate in
December this year. It’s tough, and let me tell you, I’m exhausted, stressed,
drained, tense, cranky, lonely, bored and absolutely buggered absolutely every
minute of the day but I keep telling myself that in the long run, it will all be
worth it.
I’m not writing this to make you jealous or
tell you how my life is better than yours but to encourage you to work for what
you want. Work out what it is you want in your life, and work towards it. Do
whatever you need to do to make it happen. I want to move overseas so I’m going
to do it. I absolutely love going to gigs and trying to meet celebrities, so I
work enough so that I can save enough to move overseas and to be able to go to
gigs every few weeks. I miss out on shitty things like going to the pub for a
few drinks or going out for dinner or going for weekends away, because I would
rather sit at home and be bored for a year to be able to save up and do one
massive thing. Don’t get me wrong, I crack and go shopping and spent $200 in an
hour or go out for dinner and treat myself to the most expensive thing on the
menu, but if you can manage for a month or two, believe it or not every once in
a while you can actually afford to splash out.
I hate seeing people wasting their youth or
doing what they think is the opposite and going out clubbing every single
weekend and hooking up with people because it’s “what you’re meant to do when
you’re young” or they think “who cares, I’m having fun,” but in reality, you need
to have some sort of context and dreams about what you want for your future. I
spent the first six months being 18 going clubbing every weekend, and the
second six months of being 18 living on the other side of the world and
travelling Europe. Since getting home, I realised how much money I wasted in
those first six months. Now I do the minimum and save the maximum. I know it’s
not for everyone but I urge you to find what you love and strive towards it.
Discover your dreams and work towards them. Trust me, if you put in the hard
work, the hours upon hours yawning and struggling through your days, it will
pay off. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, just find something
worth the battle.
Ummmm yeah that was random but rant over xoxo
