Navigating Life Through University – A Short Story

Hi there, my name is Rowan, and don’t hate me for saying it, but being a student has always come easy to me

Syllabi make sense. Deadlines are comforting. Rubrics are reassuring they tell you exactly how much your thoughts are worth.

In classrooms, I am the one who listens closely, who highlights readings in careful colours, who raises a hand only after repeating the question a million times in my head.

University really rewards this version of me. My grades say I am doing great. Professors smile when they say my name. I am an academic weapon.

But outside of school – where there is no syllabus, no rubric – is an entirely different story.

People always ask what I’m going to do after graduation, and the truth is, I really don’t know how to exist without assignments or school. I don’t know what goes on when there are no courses, no semesters, and no obvious next step. What am I going to do without clear indications like Week 1? The future feels like a question with no word limit and no clear criteria on how to do things right.

I walk across campus with a heavy backpack, but it’s my thoughts that really weigh me down. All around, I hear students talk about internships, careers, plans they look forward to. And I’m starting to question whether mastering school is enough; does being good at school mean I’ll be good at life? I wonder if all I’ve done is learn how to succeed in a finite system, after all, school has a start and an end.

At home, I reread notes that I don’t even need to study anymore. Sometimes they are from courses I’ve already finished. I know I don’t have to, but it reminds me who I am. Knowledge feels solid because it stays where you put it. Unlike life. Life tosses things at you and moves everything around.

Still, there are so many moments when I realize I’m learning something that isn’t academic. Sometimes it’s how to sit with uncertainty or how to admit I don’t have the answer to a question.

My main learning goal, just for myself, is to let myself be an unfinished assignment.

Maybe the real objective is figuring out how to go beyond what’s written on the page, into a life that knows no bounds. Life doesn’t grade you but rather asks you to evaluate yourself. Perhaps the challenge, then, is holding yourself to a high standard without being overly self-critical. Who even knows.

For now, while I’m still a student, I’ll keep studying. Not just because exams aren’t optional, or to get an exceptional grade, but for myself. I want to do it for me since I’m hoping that one day, life outside of school will feel like something I know how to navigate exceptionally too.