Graduation and Beyond: My Top Memories, Insights, and Ambitions

I certainly would have classed myself as one of the ‘quiet ones’ at school: the listener in my friendship group, the responsible student rather than the troublemaker, and certainly not the one with their hand up all the time! That’s why at university, I decided it was time to make a change.

Starting from the very first week, I promised myself that I would make a serious effort to make friends with my new flatmates and attend as many different events and society tasters as possible — and that attitude was something I tried to carry on the whole way through. Now, looking back at all of my favourite moments at university, I’ve realised they all share the common theme of being times when I was confident: confident to put my hand up to answer and, more importantly, ask questions to improve my understanding in seminars, confident to speak in front of large audiences at a variety of Widening Participation and mentoring opportunities, and confident enough to take the first step in initiating conversations that led to long-term friendships. And the time I was most confident of all, the Year Abroad, was the time I met so many new people, experienced so many exciting cultures, and made some of my best memories!

There was just one thing that still bugged me however: knowing whether all these moments of confidence were real. Was Quiet Priya the real Priya and I was just putting on a face? Or was I always confident and had merely pretended to be quiet? Well, it took me four years, but I’ve finally got the answer, which is my best advice for you!

The truth is neither option was true. Quiet Priya never existed and neither did Confident Priya. Because confidence isn’t a characteristic of your personality: it’s a choice you make every single day. The choice to go outside your comfort zone, say yes and try new things. And equally, the confidence to sometimes say no, to be happy with who you are, and proud that you are enough.

Of course, making the choice to be confident each day is not easy—I’m truthfully not sure exactly how confident I feel looking towards my next steps following graduation, when I’ll be going on to train to become a Modern Foreign Languages teacher. Will I cope with all the new demands of the role, and will I find my true calling in this profession? At the moment, I can’t guarantee anything for certain. Nevertheless, whatever happens, I feel really determined to show up, give it my absolute best and follow through on an ambition and passion that I’ve held for several years, without letting my fear of the unknown get in my way. Because that too in itself is confidence.

Overall, whoever you are and whatever new challenge you have waiting for you, I have one last recommendation to share. Don’t let anyone, or anything, tell you the type of person you are and what you’re capable of: make the choice to be confident in your abilities to tackle that new step in front of you. Because if you set your mind to something, you really can do it!