After 3 years of making friends, partying, challenging myself and my photography, learning to dive and do things I never could have imagined, Uni is over and I’m all moved home. So…now what?

I chose to study “Marine and Natural History Photography,” a very specialist subject with a massively competitive industry to break into. Although I followed my heart and chose to study what I love, photography and marine biology/ecology, I never imagined what exactly it would be that I’d end up doing (job-wise) post-degree. Is there a place for people to get jobs in what they love AND actually be able to pay the bills anymore? Can I even use my Art degree in the “real world?”

Don’t get me wrong, my University experience was truly incredible and one I would never take back, but seriously, what are all us graduates supposed to do now? The question I keep getting asked is forcing itself into my thoughts daily “so what are your plans after summer?”

Well, firstly I, like many graduates, have to pay back a hefty overdraft, £1500 to be exact. Also faced with having little, if no, equipment, hardly any professional experience plus outstanding bills and a tonne of debt, this isn’t really the ideal start to our ‘adult lives.’

With more and more young people going to University, it is extremely competitive to get a job post-degree. After years of working in cafés and restaurants, this summer I’m working for a water sports company spending days on the beach hiring out equipment…the dream ey? Unfortunately, this seasonal job will eventually come to an end as quickly as the summer started.

What then you ask? Trust me, I’ve thought about office jobs, interning, working ridiculous hours for minimum wage (sometimes lower) just for the chance of experience on my CV. But this isn’t how I want to live my life, constantly wishing for something more. I want to do a job that I love NOW, not THEN, because what if then never comes and I’ve wasted time doing shitty jobs and not seeing the world?

Okay so I’m gonna throw something out there, bare with me on this…

What if you could do a job you loved right now, and get paid for it? Travel if you wanted, see the world, have new experiences, meet new people, make a difference to their lives and your own?

Why can’t you? What’s stopping you?

I know of people who have travelled the world with next to no money. People who have dropped everything, sold their homes, left their (sometimes very prestigious) full time jobs and moved away, helped build a school, trek the Himalayas, work for a dive company in the Maldives, the list is endless. These are the people who are actually living their lives RIGHT NOW.

If they can do it, then so can all of us.

Maybe it is a little crazy to propose dropping everything and moving away. Maybe that isn’t for you. But let’s take a step back and look at The Big Picture here. We really do only live once, so if you want to go to that country, visit those temples, swim in the Indian Ocean, if not now then when?

“A blog about doing” is my own little journey, and how I plan to follow my heart (as I’ve always done) and see where it takes me. I hope you stick around, because like the saying goes anything can happen.

E

 

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