In first year, I couldn’t imagine being in fourth year.
Fourth year students were like, adults, you know? They looked so much older and they seemed so much wiser. They were so mature.
I saw this video back in first year. It’s strange to be watching this video in my fourth year.
According to the video, fourth year is “You [sitting] in bed, drinking wine and watching Netflix.” Seriously?
Maybe the first, second and third year portrayals were accurate, but fourth year is definitely not all about sitting in bed, drinking wine and watching Netflix.
Fourth year is like a slap in the face
In fourth year, you need to get your life and career together. For people graduating at the end of fourth year, it’s actually like a slap in the face and then bulldozer running your face over. Thankfully, I still have one more year, but I’m definitely feeling the pressure right now.
My next three co-op jobs will probably have a large influence on what I’m going to do after graduation. I might continue to work full-time for a company that I did co-op at. Or maybe after one year of co-op, I’ll have an even muddier idea of what I want to do in the future. I’m thankful for university, exactly for that reason though: I have the privilege of choosing which opportunities will shape my life. Let’s not forget that, friends in university!
Fourth year is the most stressful of all (weirdly the most productive too, for me)
Although I’m not graduating until May 2017 (because of co-op), I still feel the stress. The thing that’s always on my mind is “How do I use my time wisely so I can get to where I want to be when I graduate?”
Throughout the last few years, I’ve learned how to deal with stress pretty well. Right now, I sleep for eight hours every day; I’m in bed by 11 PM and I wake up at 7 AM, even on the weekends. I exercise at least four times a week. First and second year were definitely not like this. I would constantly sleep after 1 AM and barely exercise.
This term, I also started to do some leisure reading every day for 30 minutes. Although it seems like I have all the time I need to get things done, I’m still stressed. Sleeping, exercising and reading all help me de-stress; the more stressed I get, the more I do these things.
This term has been the most stressful, but also the most productive. I highly recommend you checking out The Habit Course (and my review of it). A good friend recommended it to me at the beginning of the term, and I found it incredibly helpful and practical.
Fourth year is bittersweet
You’re sad to say goodbye to college life, but you can’t wait to get out into the real world. You’re kind of fed up with studying, but you’ll miss the group projects you did with cool people. You’re at the top of the food chain again, but you’ll be the little one again when you leave university.
I’m going to miss UBC’s campus. After graduating, I know that it won’t be the same when I come back to visit it. The memories will be there, but the people won’t. I’ve already experienced this after visiting Tsinghua University post-exchange.
And the journey continues
“Dina, stop sulking over university ending! You still have until end of fifth year to make magic happen, geez!”
True, let’s get back to reality now. My priority is to find a January co-op job. It’s almost the middle of December. I have my fingers crossed for the dream co-op position I applied for a few days ago. Updates when it happens!
