Do you remember that feeling you had when you’d just finished Year 12? The joy, the relief, the feeling that summer would last forever and that anything was possible?

That feeling lasted only about as long as it took to remember you needed a good ATAR. I’ve just (hopefully) finished my degree, and I’m going through that Year 12 feeling all over again – but this time the stakes are much, much higher.

The limbo between end of exams and graduating feels longer than it is, and it can drive you crazy. Here are few ways to make it go faster.

Do Anything But Think About Whether You Passed Or Not

If you’re worried about whether you’ll pass all of your subjects or not: stop it. You’ve literally just completed an entire degrees worth of subjects – bar one semester – so on the balance of probability, you’ve passed. There are plenty of things you can do instead of worrying about your grades!

Or, try this one: start a betting pool with your mates about who’s most likely to fail. Then, take the friends who do fail out to console them and share in the devastation. If none of you fail, even better.

Get Used To Being Bored Again

Exams are a high-octane, no holds-barred academic romp. It’s a very full-on period, especially when it’s your last ever one. So how do you feel when you finally hand in your last assessment or put down your pen? I expected to be ready to boogie and tear up a rug but instead I felt completely exhausted and more than a little bit empty.

That void – feeling like you should be working when you don’t have anything to do – has a very powerful draw. It can tempt you to want to start working on something, anything again, but you need to resist that. Be comfortable with being bored again, slow down, readjust, and give yourself a break.

Get Lost In Visions Of Your Cool Mature New Life

Having said all that, it’s also fun to daydream, right? You’re free now! You can start thinking beyond the next assessment, like a normal human being. The limbo between ending exams and graduating is a perfect buffer between your lame, nerdy, uni self and your soon-to-be cool, mature, has-a-degree-with-a-non-IKEA-bed-frame self.

You can use this time to plan for all of the things you never had time for in your final year. Crack out the butcher’s paper, dust off your expensive minimalist notebooks and indulge all of your wildest list-making fantasies.

Actually Reflect On Your Degree

Too many people get too caught up about getting into a post-grad course or procuring an internship or graduate position that they forget the achievement that is completing a degree.

The period before graduation is the perfect opportunity to pat yourself on the back! Look back on all of your favourite subjects and think about the lectures that had a huge impact, the tutors you loved and the group projects you hated.

There’s no shame in being proud of yourself. In fact, celebrating your accomplishments is the best way to encourage you to achieve even more. Because it’s hard to consider a life after graduation, it’s worth it to instead think about the years that got you to this point.

If these tips aren’t cutting it, that’s fine. You could just spend the entire limbo catching up on Stranger Things. That’ll also work.

Callum McDermott studies Arts at the University of Melbourne when he’s not drinking any coffee he can get his hands on.

(Lead image: Superbad/Columbia Pictures)