Episode 1: Class of 2020 - Rosie, MA English and Scottish Literature

In episode one, Rosie speaks to us about being impulsive, not being in a race and meeting at the bench. 

Each episode is a snapshot, a moment, a sneak inside the minds of our graduates. Season one talks to our 2020 graduates about how things are going, or not going, for them. 

Subscribe now and find out what everyone is up to and how they feel about this weird and unpredictable time.

All opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Edinburgh. 

Multi Story Edinburgh has been created and produced by the Alumni Relations team at the University of Edinburgh. If you are interested in telling your story, please get in touch and let's talk.

Music: Since When by Mise Darling. 

Transcript

Sonia (host)  0:05  
This is a snapshot, a moment, a sneak inside the minds of our graduates. This is season one class of 2020.

Rosie  0:15  
I'm Rosie, my name is Rosie Gallagher. I'm from Aberdeen, I studied English and Scottish Literature. 

Rosie  0:22  
And if I'm being like, really honest, some days, I feel like scared shitless like, I don't know what I'm doing. And then other days, I'm like, it's fine. Like, if I have a day where I get an email that seems particularly productive, or if I have, if a company responds to me, or I send off a job application, I think was like really strolled in the solid, like, I kind of go to bed and I'm like, wow, everything's gonna be fine. And then other days, when things haven't happened for a while, or I feel like, I don't know, when, but I feel like I'm late on my own life. Those are the days that I'm like, oh, like, when are things gonna start happening? But yeah, I think, from everything I've heard from everyone else, the first year after you graduate, is meant to be scary, even if you have a job. So that's, that's where I'm at right now. 

Rosie  1:21  
I think everyone was kind of taken by surprise with the COVID situation, I remember when we decided to terminate the lease on the flat. The current chat around that time was that the whole lockdown would last two months. And obviously, it lasted a lot longer than that. And at that point, none of us thought our graduations would be cancelled. But um, yeah, I went home and finished the dissertation from my childhood bedroom. And, yeah, it was, it was definitely a bit of an anti climax. The end of uni, for sure, it's strange, because that chapter of my life is definitely closed now. 

Rosie  2:02  
I was actually meant to return to the Edinburgh International Book Festival. I've done that the last two years. So I was meant to go back there. And that didn't happen. And in my mind, I was like, well, the book Fest, there are loads of people there. And I can network all day, every day, and I'll just be able to find something or that will lead to something else. And from the book festival stint I did last year, there was a lot of people around me that were like Rosie, you would be perfect for this. Or you should come and do this next year. Have you ever thought about doing this? And I had to just say no to all because I was still a student. And I was kind of naive and thought, you know, maybe something like that will happen again. But I did know a lot of the people at book fest were either from Glasgow or did a lot of work in Glasgow, and I thought Glasgow would be a good fit, because it would be close to all of that stuff. 

Rosie  2:59  
It was quite impulsive. While I was at home, I was aware of the risks of COVID. And I didn't want to put my parents at risk at all. Like every time I went out with my friends, there was a little seed of guilt in me like, oh, God, I hope I don't bring anything home. Which I think probably I'm not the only person. And I was also craving a bit more independence. A few of my friends had signed up to do Masters in Glasgow, and I just decided to move in with them. 

Rosie  3:33  
One of them has actually got a graduate position, but I am a part time tutor in Glasgow, something I've carried on since I was a student, but it's not a lot right now. And I'm applying and getting a lot of rejections. But I know I'm not alone in that right now. 

Rosie  3:54  
Yeah, I think there's definitely been times where I've been a bit, you know, what, what am I actually doing? Or a bit worried about what is in store, what's next. It can feel sort of empty when you're trying to explain an idea of something that you might, like, want to do, and you're trying to apply to things that are near it, and it seems very woolly and very unstable. I think you have to stay positive because if you don't like, but the thing is, I know for sure I really don't want to be in a job where like I couldn't see myself in you know? Or a lot of people have said like why don't you go into teaching but I don't want to be a teacher. I may be a bit stubborn erm.

Rosie  4:53  
There's a lot of pressure. Erm, I think me my friends actually speak about this quite a lot like it's almost like a race or something. That once you're out of uni, you have to be succeeding kind of the second you're out the door. But in reality, we're all really, really young still like, we don't know anything at all. And when you it, it's not really a competition is definitely unknown territory. But, you can't compare yourself to other people think that's really important. And you sort of have to remind yourself not to compare yourself to your other fellow graduates who are all doing lots of different things. I think, if I could swap places with one of my pals, he's got a graduate scheme. I still wouldn't, because I don't want to do what they're doing. So yeah, I guess that's the, the comfort in it. Even though there is a bit of a lack of security, and I don't really know what the future holds, and I don't know what's next. I think I'm just sort of determined to land on my feet somehow.

Sonia (host)  6:06  
We also ask our graduates to share a place. Somewhere special, somewhere we can get together when all this is finished.

Rosie  6:15  
My friends, and I just call it the bench. It's on the Royal Deeside line in Aberdeen. It's an old railway line, which was paved over and is now a really popular cycling path, slash walking path, dog walking area. And it's just because it's an a old train tracks, you can still see the platform, either side. Along this railway line, there's a bench which looks out across the valley where I live. There's a river down at the bottom, that you can see. There's a golf course and a park and houses and like cows in the fields way in the distance. And it just kind of looks out over everything. And it's so popular this bench that they actually added another bench, next to it. And then this bench was also so popular, they added another bench. So there's these three benches, which are all about a few metres apart. And they all share this one view. And all the benches are really different. The one in the middle is all like scrappy and ugly. And the one just to the left of it is definitely older but not as grim. And the new one is like pristine. But me and my friends and me and my family have sat there. I've gone there alone and just had a sit. I've been there like in the middle of the night, after house parties when I was like 16. And it was just sort of like the place you would go to sit and have a chat because there's only so many benches on this railway line. And yeah, I feel like I've got a lot of memories there with a lot of different people and just with myself. And even now every time I go home I'm always at the bench at some point and it's almost notorious in a way because if I am meeting someone, if I ask my friends to meet at the bench, it's not like what bench? I mean the whole of the town. It's like you know exactly what, bench I mean, though there's actually three of them now. But yeah, I definitely say that is a very special place and kind of I associate it a lot with home.

Sonia (host)  8:31  
Thank you for listening. Join us next time for another graduate and another story.

Kirsten (Careers Service)  8:43  
Wherever you always planning for your future, the Career Service is here to support you. As a recent graduate, you can continue to use all of our services, including full access to My Career Hub, online appointments with our careers consultants, our full calendar of employer events, and support with the application process. Find out more at www.ed.ac.uk/careers

Transcribed by https://otter.ai