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Posted Nov. 10, 2025

Life after undergraduate study…

Life after graduate study

Recent university graduate, Willow Martin, is a writer and poet from Cornwall, UK. Having successfully completed her undergraduate degree, Willow is trying to work out what to do next…

Willow Martin graduate student and author“Life after undergraduate study is, to put it bluntly, a bit of a shitstorm. It’s full of love, self-learning, tears, and an overwhelming sense of “what now?” that strange, buzzing uncertainty between endings and beginnings. It’s like standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down at all the possible futures, wondering which one will catch you when you leap. There really are so many possibilities and that’s both thrilling and terrifying.

University changed me in ways I didn’t expect. Studying cracked open my world. Meeting new people, having late-night conversations that stretched into the early hours, learning from tutors who challenged everything I thought I knew it all expanded my sense of what life could be. I swear my brain grew three sizes, like the Grinch’s heart, only mine filled with ideas, empathy, and a newfound hunger for growth. And then, just like that, it was over. Caps thrown, essays submitted, goodbyes said. Now I’m back in quiet old Cornwall, surrounded by familiar streets and familiar sea air, wondering: okay, so that was an experience, what’s next?

It’s a strange kind of stillness. The world that once felt so big suddenly feels small again. I find myself missing the chaos of deadlines and discussions, but also appreciating the peace that comes with slower days. I think I’ve decided to start focusing on small steps the things I can do, the people I can meet right here, right now, as a grown person learning to live outside the structure of education. When it comes to postgraduate studies, I’m keeping my mind open and my plans flexible. There’s a pull towards further study maybe a postgraduate course in theology or preacher training, or maybe something entirely unexpected that sparks my curiosity again. I’m excited about that possibility, but I’m also giving myself permission to pause. To rest. To recalibrate.

After years of pushing myself essays, exams, the constant performance of productivity I want a season of self-healing. A chance to just be. I worked my bloody socks off for my degree, and I’m proud of that. But I don’t want to rush into the next thing out of fear of standing still. So, for now, I’m embracing the uncertainty. I’m learning to see the beauty in not having a plan. Life after undergrad isn’t neat or linear, it’s messy, unpredictable, and sometimes lonely. But it’s also full of potential, of quiet mornings and surprising conversations, of rediscovering who I am outside of university walls.

Here’s to the chaos, to the quiet, to the unexpected directions we find ourselves pulled in. Here’s to trusting that even in the stillness, we’re moving forward one small, brave step at a time.”

Author’s bio: Willow Martin is a writer and poet from Cornwall, UK. Her work spanning poetry, fiction, and opinion pieces draws deeply from her experiences of womanhood in Cornwall, exploring emotion, identity, and the full spectrum of big feelings.

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