Stuff your job, mate

I think I’m like most students heading into their last year of college. I like my student life and the thought of giving it up in place of a serious job is enough to make me want to repeat. Truth be told I’m a little terrified of stepping out into this big, bad world and experiencing life without a midweek party. Unfortunately for me, it seems the lunge is coming fast and I still lack that elusive spot of maturity which might actually make me in some way employable.

However, all is not lost because my plan is simple. I’m still young with little concern and plenty of unquestioning, ill directed enthusiasm. Even though I’ve had the responsibility of my own passport for several years now, the inner pages still sit idly blank and the most action it’s seen is during a lads holiday to Majorca two years ago. So at this point, I think there is only one reasonable conclusion.

Now I’m no master of languages and if I’m honest English still presents a problem, but even so, a trip to the far end of the world sounds like a well thought out plan to me. I’m dying to take a few months in Africa’s deep jungle or Australia’s precarious outback, but when I delve into the nitty-gritty most of what Google comes back with informs me that I’ve just become an unsuspecting millionaire. Luckily there are some flowers in the muck, and I did find an organisation that could help me with my traveling troubles. When I browsed what they have to offer, things started to look a whole lot brighter and ideas I would never have considered began to play in my mind.

It’s all too easy to get caught up in Imperial’s endless battle to get ahead...

While I began with wild dreams of remote locations unknown to man, I have been charmed into a more civilized approach to travel; somewhere a little more accommodating, namely Canada. I know what you’re thinking. It’s a far cry from my first speculative ambitions, but the fact is there are not many places better, at least not for someone like me. Crucially, I’ll still be able to knock back beers with people who speak in a way that’s conceivable to me, but they also have a compliant visa policy, good standards of living and probably best of all, some of the best ski resorts in the world.

Yes, skiing may be somewhat of a mystery to me but it’s not going to dampen my spirits. I can still get a decent wage as a barman, and live in a flat that won’t eat into my student loan as much as a parking permit here in London. Ski resorts are full of young people looking to take advantage of the seasonal work, and if you’ve ever heard from anybody who’s spent time in these places you’ll find their banter isn’t bad either.

The organisation that I’m going with (BUNAC, if your interested), seem really helpful and look like they’re able to sort out most of what I need. In all honesty, I haven’t had to do much apart from send an email or two so far and things already seem to be well on their way to being organised. Although I am probably a bit ahead of myself, which is a nice new change, it’s hard not to get a little excited. All I that is left right now is to find somebody else eager to try something similar to ensure I’ll not spend my nights eating dinner alone.

The trouble is that it’s easier said than done as most people I know have been swept up in the whirlwind frenzy for grad jobs. Honestly, I think this kind of thing should be made more apparent for those of us clinging to our last days at the student union. It’s all too easy to get caught up in Imperial’s endless battle to get ahead but employers recognise these difficult times and showing some independence like this will never be frowned upon. Personally, I would advise anyone in two minds, or struggling with assessment centres, to just go out a do it before work inevitably takes us over. You’ll never have a better opportunity than now.