Finishing university, you’re suddenly thrust into what everybody enjoys calling ‘the real world’. It’s taken some getting used to, and I’ve experienced some sharp learning curves as I’ve adjusted to life outside of academia. These are just a few of those things.
Be shrewd about what ‘work experience’ you take on I took some work experience on (unpaid) that I thought would be great experience, when in fact, once I really thought about it, I could have been doing exactly the same thing but on my own, unfinished film. I quickly realised that, even though my own film was also unpaid, I’d actually gain more from working on it, doing exactly the same tasks, because I’d be completing it for me, not for someone else. I’ve come to learn that filling time with un-enriching activities that have little or no personal or monetary benefit can become very detrimental to creativity, especially when there’s the opportunity to say ‘no’ to it – you spend all your energies on an all-consuming task, with none left for yourself and your own creative ventures. Not a happy place to be. It’s important to have balance! Make the most of ‘now’ – you might not be in that place again What I really wanted to do after university was work on my own projects, do whatever creative stuff I wanted, but I also felt the importance of having a job in an animation studio. After a lot of very long and hard thinking, I decided to take the leap and do my own thing. It was the right choice. It’s the only time in my life I may ever be able to afford it, both in terms of time and money, and it’s been awesome just doing whatever I want; total creative freedom. YAY! I do have a tendency to worry about the ‘next thing’, which often ruins whatever I’m currently doing, but right now, I’m trying my best to be in the ‘now’ and to make the most of it. The more I can get out of the ‘now’ now, the better it’ll set me up for the ‘next thing’.
It’s OK to take a break... Your mind and body, and your creativity need time to rejuvenate, so let them. After working so hard and intensely at university, I didn’t want to do anything creative for a while. At first I thought this was awful! A student of a creative course not wanting to do the very thing she’s been doing the past three years?? I just didn’t want to. But that was cool; I took a break for a while, and came back to it, ready. Like spaghetti. … And to take a moment to let it sink in
Do not injure yourself for free (or even if you’re being paid, unless you really, really, really love what you’re doing) It’s never really worth it. Injured on a project that you hate, (potentially) crippled for the next project you love. Another learnt from the afore-mentioned work experience. While for the first few days sitting at the computer clicking was dull but relatively painless, by the end of the month, I was in near-agony. It quickly became apparent that doing this for free was a massive FAIL; I could have been working on my own film, with more pay-off, no deadline, and more of an opportunity to still have a life. It made me question whether I’d want to finish my own film, let alone whether I’d be physically able to do it. In the end, I manned up and thought positively, and made sure there was a decent break between the work experience and starting on my film. Even in the not-so-great experiences, there’s still an opportunity to take something useful away from them, even if it’s simply a deep desire never to do work like that again, or to be more discerning next time. Being open to learning from it means it’s not a total waste.
I had a mini meeting with myself after I finished university, to sum the three years up, and to see what I wanted to do next and where I wanted to go. It is excellent if you can learn what you like and want, and equally what you don’t like and don’t want. There are no ‘right’ answers any more It’s about your view, your perception of life, your route through it. Of course, there will be times where you make decisions that aren’t as great as perhaps they could have been, but it becomes a part of your life. My mum told me recently that ‘your only real job in life is to be you. Be all that you are meant to be, be the “you” that God created you to be.’ It’s not about being or doing what you think others are being or doing, or even seemingly want from you; it’s about you being you, and learning what it is and means to be you. As Journey said, any way you want it, that’s the way you need it.
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