{"id":396,"date":"2017-07-21T12:30:22","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T12:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/?p=396"},"modified":"2017-07-03T10:20:26","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T10:20:26","slug":"it-is-just-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2017\/07\/21\/it-is-just-the-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"It is just the beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Judi Luxmoore<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve completed my degree! Hooray! Now I just have to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life\u2026 No one can prepare you for what life is like after university. If you are anything like me, when you were younger you were in denial about life existing after you finished your degree. Being in education my whole life, I always knew what the next logical step would be – school, then A-levels, then taking a gap year, and finally going to university to study psychology. Now, however, I find myself desperately trying to design the next step of my future, unable to rely on society and people I know to tell me what I am meant to do next.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ever since I can remember I have wanted to work in mental health, romanticising that the perfect job in this area would knock on my door and present itself to me. Little did I know life is not that easy. Psychology is a very complex field, with endless options and employers all demanding the most passionate, hard-working and determined individuals, with a lot more on their CV than just a degree. Becoming one of these top 1% of people seems an impossible task. Yet here I go, trying to be one of them, and making difficult decisions between staying in education, getting a job, getting some relevant work experience (unpaid of course, because the most important work for society ironically gives the least money), moving back home, or curling up into a ball and hoping that adulthood would leave me alone.<\/p>\n

After exhausting the free advice from the careers and employability centre and my academic advisor, as well as having endless conversations with anybody who will listen, I have decided to do a post-graduate course that will qualify me for a mental health practitioner job. Whether this is the right decision or not, at least I made a decision, and I look forward to seeing whether it was the right one. Because you will never know whether the career path you decide on is the right one until you give it a go, the only thing you can do is take that leap and see what happens. After all, you will probably have to do many jobs before you find the perfect one.<\/p>\n

But for now, remember to give yourself a pat on the back for completing your degree, take a breath and relax, because nobody expects you to conquer the world on day one!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Judi Luxmoore   I\u2019ve completed my degree! Hooray! Now I just have to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life\u2026 No one can prepare you for what life is like after university. If you…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pafdEV-6o","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1482,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2022\/03\/11\/make-it-happen-events-and-sussex-connect\/","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":0},"title":"Make It Happen Events and Sussex Connect","date":"March 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Louise Drake, Psychology Careers Connector The Make it Happen events are an amazing new set of panel events targeting several different job sectors and career types, where you can hear how graduates from the University of Sussex got into their careers, their tips for job hunting, and their top\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2022\/03\/FNPxXm8XMAUBhFN-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":176,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2016\/04\/11\/my-first-paper\/","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":1},"title":"My first paper","date":"April 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jennifer Mankin This spring, my first paper on synaesthesia and language appears in an upcoming edition of Cognition. While I know that getting a paper published is always a rigorous and difficult process \u2013 as indeed it should be \u2013 I am not only excited and nervous for this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Academic Writing\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2016\/04\/paper-face-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":230,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2016\/06\/27\/reflections-on-the-first-2-years-of-studying-psychology\/","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":2},"title":"Reflections on the first 2 years of studying psychology","date":"June 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Judi Luxmoore I have just finished the second year of my degree and it is overwhelming to think about how much knowledge I have gained, and how much I have grown as a person. I have worked hard, partied hard and also had time to be lazy, as us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Second Year\"","img":{"alt_text":"Judi","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2016\/06\/Judi-300x201.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1853,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2023\/02\/28\/why-my-placement-has-changed-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":3},"title":"Why my placement has changed my life","date":"February 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Kerry Moor We asked one of our current 2022-23 Psychology Professional placement students to tell us about their experience so far. Kerry is completing an internal research placement with the School of Psychology for the Sussex Centre for Research on Kindness. A Professional Placement year is completed between your\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2023\/02\/Placement-blog-photo-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1473,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2022\/03\/10\/careers-advice-where-do-i-start\/","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":4},"title":"Careers Advice - Where Do I Start?!","date":"March 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Louise Drake, Psychology Careers Connector. Thinking about your career, at any point during your degree, can feel like a daunting prospect. In first year, it feels much too early, in second year your schedule is chock-full, and in third year it all feels too late! The Careers and Entrepreneurship\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"career advice\"","img":{"alt_text":"picture of feet with arrows in all directions","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2022\/03\/arrows-5081423_640.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":97,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2015\/11\/09\/experience-with-the-jra-scheme\/","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":5},"title":"Experience with the JRA scheme","date":"November 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By Ruihan Wu In the spring term of the second year of my undergraduate degree, I applied to the Junior Research Associate (JRA) scheme, with Nicola Yuill of the Children and Technology Lab (insert link) as my supervisor. This scheme, funded by the doctoral school in the University with support\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Child development\"","img":{"alt_text":"Figure 2. 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