Three years can seem like a lifetime, especially when you consider that Renee Zellweger (providing she keeps up her current trend) could be engaged, married and divorced twelve times in that space of time! But, at the risk of sounding like my high school teachers, your three years at uni will go by so quickly you'll want to stay on and do another degree (even if only to go to catch up with your mates!)
At a certain stage in one's life (say, around the age of 20-21) the 21st party looms large. This is my warning to you: once you hit said age, there will be a 21st party every weekend for about a decade. Maybe even two in one weekend, who knows? They cannot be escaped - so don't try to pretend you're 'sick' on the sixteenth weekend (nobody batted an eyelid when I told them I had emphysema. You can get it from passive smoking, too...I think.)
But the great thing about 21st parties is that you can see your old high school buddies. I went to a really small high school, and my friends and I have pretty much all gone our separate ways. My best friend and I are at Sydney, but everybody else has ventured elsewhere.
During the three years most of us spent at uni, it was exciting to catch up and compare uni stories. None were funnier than Jacq's - she did Nursing - who made up the game, "1001 Ways to Use a Catheter." But even though we were studying different degrees, and even at different unis, we were all students.
Now, half of my friends have graduated. Sarah is going to America in March to work as an exercise physiologist. Jacq is starting (next Monday, no less) at Royal North Shore. Jess is working as a graphic designer for a newspaper. Amy is starting her own photography business. And Little Sarah is travelling to France, to figure out what she wants to do next.
As they were telling me, I felt ill. How could we have spent three years at uni already? Didn't we just do our HSC? I can still remember Schoolies, damn it! It made me feel quite old. All my friends are becoming grown-ups...will I be pushed along with the pack?
The good thing for me is that I have at least one more year of uni left, and I have the option of doing other degrees. My friends think I'm crazy, but the student life is so fabulous that I want to enjoy it for as long as I can. I really do love studying here, and the social life ain't bad either! There will be plenty of time for me to work full-time: right now I want to immerse myself in this lifestyle.
I'm very proud of my friends for graduating: it is really a huge achievement and one that shouldn't be overlooked. Congratulations, ladies! But don't forget about me when you're out there in the big wide working world. Hopefully we still have at least a year of 21st parties to attend...you can tell me all about those Cardiac patients, Jacq (gosh, they can be demanding...)