Edited by Paige Wheeler  

Subedited by Kadie Cooper 

Limbo – ‘a situation of uncertainty where progress, decision, or resolution is stalled.’ 

As many of us make the transition away from full-time education and into the wide world of adulthood, it can feel daunting, to say the least. A lot of us will let the pressure overwhelm us to the point where we become stagnant. Time passes as we count down the day, drawing nearer to the graduation date – the true finale, and we let it.  

In this, it feels easy to let the days pass and have them mould into one. Now, there is a ghost pressure on our backs. Not from assignments, lectures, or a degree, but from nothing. After being drowned in word counts for the past three or so years, the space of opportunity before us seems…empty. There is no longer anything to grasp onto. No routine built up for you, and no curriculum to follow.  

Life is pressure. Right now, time might feel like a standstill, especially when waiting for that graduation day to arrive. Some may move back in with their parents after years of learning to live alone, or with strangers. It can feel like the independence that you once fought to strengthen has been stripped away. Suddenly, you’re in your childhood room again, dreaming of a golden career with a bright imagination. However, it’s never as simple as the movies make it out to be. 

Job hunts are extremely competitive. It’s a long process of a string of rejections that seem to end up in a doom spiral. It can lead to many of us getting fixated on acquiring one and forgetting everything else around us. Neither does pressure from family help with this either. It almost feels like a career is an identity in itself – many will judge it and create a personality for you with it. Therefore, that disconnection is something important to establish. 

Through a combination of careers, an expanse of time, and responsibilities, it is easy to drown in the sea of adulthood.  

So, what do we do now? 

Over the course of your lifetime, I’m sure the only subject people have talked about is to ‘look to the future’. It seems everyone is curious about your future: Where do you see yourself in five years? Are you looking for marriage? What job do you want in the future? In truth, the unknown is overwhelming, and it can cause us to spiral into a frenzy of suddenly feeling the need to accomplish everything now. I believe it is just as important to look at the past, just as much as the future. What have you accomplished up until now? The future is foggy, and yet our past is something that can never be erased. 

Additionally, after this very chaotic period of brain focus, I’m sure we have faced the dilemma of prioritising assignments over hobbies. For example, in my room sits a bookshelf. On that shelf, there are many books that have collected dust over the last few months, while I have maniacally typed assignments in Word, refusing to even glance at them in fear of looking at even more words. Reading has always been a big hobby of mine, and yet I have neglected it for months because I wouldn’t allow myself downtime. 

So, one thing to do over the summer, whilst the heat blares down on your face, is to reconnect the puzzle pieces of a hobby you abandoned in the corner of your room. Not only this, but you can also pick up a new one and discover a new interest. Pick up that crochet project you gave up on three months ago, or that painting you left the watercolour to dribble down. Not only would reconnecting with these past hobbies potentially help make you feel like yourself again, but they would also boost your mood and cure your summer blues boredom. 

There is a phrase that the internet has connected with over the past year or so, and that is ‘reconnecting with your inner child’. This can be important for reclaiming your identity as that child from many years ago is still you, just slightly grown up with more life experiences. Think about what you enjoyed doing as a kid. Walk down memory lane with places you grew up, and remember the emotions you felt during them. Pick up that Disney movie you watched fifty times over on repeat as a kid because you wanted to be just like the main character. 

Finding who you are is a difficult and long process, one that lasts a lifetime. But there’s beauty in never being the same person twice. Take that human curiosity and discover, because after all, we are forever learning.