Member-only story
Why I chose to live in a van over finding a full-time job?
A solution for exhausted graduates
When I was speaking with one of my friends about my future, and whether I’d like to continue with STEM and research, all I heard was:
If that was something for you, something you’d like to do, you’d already be doing it.
And that hit me hard.
The truth is that the education system have left me exhausted. I have been in school and university for almost 16 years and ended up with at least four episodes of burnout. I needed to live up to the reputation of being a top-performer. I was programmed to seek academic validation.
I did my undergraduate during the pandemic, went straight into a summer internship after which I started my intense one year master’s course. I needed a well-deserved rest, a lifetime break. I saved up to have a couple months long holidays, with a deadline for starting to work when I feel like it.
I wanted to give myself time. Explore what I want to do. Do what I enjoyed. Give my body and mind a break. And I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t end up as a consultant in a big corporation, working 80-hour weeks. Because that what top students at uni who don’t know what they want to do end up doing.
