Here’s what grad life is really like, from someone who’s actually graduated

For some, the impending end of the academic year means the end of the third year, bringing with it a whole cornucopia of worries and woes. The end of third year means the end of student life altogether and the beginning of what people like to call "graduate life".

Whether you’re staying to get a job or going home, the fact remains that everything will change, especially how you recover from a night of heavy alcohol consumption.

To start off with, I AM A GRADUATE and have been for a while now therefore what I’m about to tell you is the honest truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You have to get a job and it won’t always be your dream job

If, like myself, you decided to remain in Manchester and retain that precious independence, the need to get a job is intense. Your parents, though more than willing to help, will not fund everything (mainly because they have one less mouth to feed and have taken up booking cruises to the Caribbean).

So this step requires a bit of maturity.

This is especially true when you realise that the dream job you’ve always wanted won’t be the first full-time job you do, it might not even be the second. But that doesn’t mean its terrible, just that you have to be realistic.

You'll enjoy sleep more than a night out

This does apply to students, but it is definitely applicable to the grad folk. Whether you’ve moved back in with your parents or not, work is tiring and demanding. So is a night out.

In no way does this mean I never go out, it just means I don’t go to out once or twice every week like the monster first year I was. To put it bluntly, sleep becomes precious, mainly because waking up tired to do a full day of work is exhausting. Not to mention that your usual mid-day nap is no longer acceptable in the workplace. One day though.

You wake up earlier on weekends

Brunchin' babes

Didn’t think you were a morning person? you will be.

Your body clock has changed because, for the majority of the week, you’re unwillingly hoisting yourself out of bed at an ungodly hour and you now wake up earlier on the weekends. With or without an alarm you may find yourself waking up before 10am. Shudder.

This isn’t necessarily bad though, the fact that you only have the weekend to do what you want actually means you feel like you’ve wasted time if you’re in bed past 10am. Nothing can replace the tremendous sense of satisfaction felt when it’s eleven and you're brunching at normal time, emptying the dishwasher, tidying your room and managing to watch two episodes of Ru Paul’s Drag Race.

Alcohol is not your friend.

I found this out the, very, hard way.

Through a number of factors (less money, not wanting to be laughed at when you shuffle into the office hungover) you’ve stopped drinking as much. This means your tolerance has decreased to a non-existent level, especially if you leaned to the side of the lightweight anyway.

No longer can you wake up ‘a bit tired’, which eventually fades after a hefty Wetherspoons breakfast. Now you can enjoy the graduate package: headaches, limb pain, light sensitivity and the crushing feeling of death.

Coffee does not alleviate this.

This is just a taste of the eventful life of a graduate and what it will inflict on you. You may experience none of these or some these or all of them at once, my condolences, but its not all bad you no longer take work home with you and you can buy as many unnecessary items as you want.

Get breaking Manchester news straight to your WhatsApp by clicking here. If you have any tips, message us on +44 7715 750931.