Natalie Stone, 01 June 2009
However much of a cliche it has become, you're never quite ready for your university years to slip through your fingers and down the sand timer. I'm sitting at the end of my second year confronted with terrifying thoughts about the future, and wondering where all my precious CV building time has disappeared to.
My first year was a whirlwind. I can barely remember any, and the rest was one giant hangover. I went out four times a week, slept through lectures, lived off super noodles and more super noodles, and ended up with anaemia. This was the start of the vicious cycle. I became too tired to care about not eating properly, which plunged me deeper into anaemic lethargy. There was nothing remotely CV worthy I could take from my first year and I’m regretting it more and more as my future creeps ever closer.
At the end of my second year I'm a different person. I’m now cooking for myself every night and eating lots of fruit and veg. I still go out but only if I have enough time and no work to do. I go to aerobics classes regularly, go running and play badminton and netball. I started a creative writing module and started sending off for writing competitions, managing to reach the final of a Script Slam, having a play I'd written performed twice. This time I got my essays and portfolio sorted in advance and even though my deadlines are over I'm sending off articles and reviews to my student newspaper, running for a section editor and preparing for my final year dissertation.
After a wake up call of a careers meeting, the words 'you haven't got any experience in your chosen field?!' still ringing in my ears, I was propelled into further action. I wrote and polished my patchy looking CV to the best of my ability and started researching companies and making lists of possibilities. Although the sun was shining tauntingly through the window, I was glued to a computer, writing cover letters and contacting companies for possible summer placements. I began to realise how urgently I needed to up my game. This was my last summer before the end of university and was acutely aware that I couldn't use 'lazing in the sun' or 'keen milkshake maker' as my key skills (although undoubtedly they were.) I’m still mid-process now but have already managed to secure two week long slots, and am in no way at the end of my tether. I've learnt the valuable lesson that it's never too late to try. Opportunities are everywhere you just need spare the time to look.
My first year taught me not to waste my time at university, and I’m more determined than ever now to dive headfirst into third year, work my socks off, get involved, and do everything I possibly can to secure my dream job in writing.
