The past couple of days has been a whirlwind of emotions. At precisely 10.26am on Tuesday, I completed my last assessment for my university degree. What I hope to be my last assessment anyway. I doubt that I will fail but knock on wood, just in case. At that time, the thought of finishing did not hit me fully. I thought I would be more excited and I definitely thought there would be tears. I have waited for that day for far too long but no tears. A little excitement perhaps and an unfamiliar calmness. One that is occasionally disturbed by my own voice in my head reminding me to study, then panic and then the calm again.
After completing the assessment, I took the bus into town to window shop. I headed straight into JB-Hi Fi to look at cameras. This has become a tradition of mine after finishing end year exams. It will be the last. For a while anyway. I have no plans of returning to study. Not anytime soon. I am ready to live outside the pages of a book. Maybe in a few years time, I will come back to my old stomping ground but for now, I guess it’s time for me to find new paths to follow.
Over the next couple of days of finishing, I remembered things that I had forgotten and things that I had no experience of. These things are not in any way extraordinary but it changed everything for me.
I never realised how much you can accomplish in a day. Especially when you are not planning your life around study on top of work. I was never the smartest cookie in the jar, I had to work hard for everything and it wasn’t until I moved to Australia that I really decided to work hard to get marks that I could be proud of. Since then, I feel like my life have been dominated by my studies and that recently changed.
Also, it seems, I forgot how to relax. I went a little crazy on the first full day off doing everything I could do. Multitasking and just not living in the moment. I am slowly getting better and learning to take a deep breath in and just to enjoy the little things in life.
What now? What would you do after closing a chapter that consumed 5 years of your life? Against my better judgement, I applied for a job and was given an offer on Friday!!! I have decided to take it despite the letter I wrote myself last June. In the letter, I told myself to pursuit photography for a little while. However, when opportunity strikes, you don’t turn it down. Future me would have kicked past me’s ass if I did.
Although my future is now a little more structured than what I would have liked, I will not forget to live my life, to enjoy the little things, spend the time on what matters and learn to relax again.
