When I was younger I loved to play the Sims. My favourite part about it was making them obtain a well-paid job, getting them promoted to the top, purchasing all the venues in town and enjoying a rich and content future. No need to psychoanalyse this pattern of behaviour.

Uni is an integral time in a young adult’s life; often the first time we’re independent and can explore different experiences without being under the gaze of our parents. We’ve left the nest but life isn’t real yet. We’re still in an education institution and we’re still learning. We exist in a flexible lifestyle of enjoying the perks of adulthood without too much of the responsibility.

The Future Feels Like Now

I would love for uni to be like it seemed in the ’70s – with people relaxing on the grass in tie-dyed t-shirts – but not a day goes by that I don’t feel the pressures of my future.

Looking around, I’m definitely not alone. Our uni experience is different from that of a few decades ago. The news is dire: the job market is difficult to break in to, we’ll be trying to buy houses we can’t afford and everything from petrol prices to bread prices will keep rising. There’s little wonder students these days are giving more thought to the future at an earlier age.

It’s no longer arts students copping the stereotype of a lack of employability; we’re all faced with the consistent warning that when it comes to the job search, ‘It’s a tough slog out there’.

We’re All Copping It

It’s no longer arts students copping the stereotype of a lack of employability; we’re all faced with the consistent warning that when it comes to the job search, ‘It’s a tough slog out there’.

Students from all fields are embarking on unpaid placements and internships earlier in their degree to start paving the way to future employment. I spend hours and hours combing through job sites and surfing the web, reading advertisements and looking at the requirements for opportunities and jobs in my field.

Are we too consumed with the thought of turning our experiences into an impressive CV that we’re letting uni life experiences pass us by?

How Can We Just Stop Worrying?

Earlier this year, Headspace found that 70 per cent of university and TAFE students rated their mental health as poor or fair.

With such a dystopian picture painted of our very near future, there’s no wonder so many are suffering.

The mere thought of the economy we’ll have to live in really draws our focus to money and the strategic career moves we should make to ensure we live a comfortable life later on.

Our degree is no longer just about education and knowledge. The mere thought of graduating is enough to induce uncertain panic. Many recent graduates find jobs in the nation’s capital cities, but they’re also the most expensive places to live. So we rent somewhere close to our full-time job, only so we can afford to pay rent for a convenient city apartment, and so the cycle continues.

As we grow older time seems to go faster. Adding to the existing stress about grades and jobs and friends, we’re also stressing about reaching the end of our uni days too quickly without getting our fix.

It’s like one big snowball as we grow into adults and realise that life really is tough. Perhaps we need to remember more frequently – as adults keep telling us – that these are the best days of our lives.