Waking up and having breakfast over headlines such as 'Grim future for graduates', 'University graduates just as likely to be unemployed as school leavers with one GCSE' and the chilling, 'Hello, Cruel World', a graduate couldn't be blamed for pushing their toast to one side and going back to bed.
There was a lull period between completing my coursework and my graduation ceremony which I filled prematurely pining after the days I could use my student card to get a free (pretty unnecessary) McDonalds cheese burger with any large meal and be drunk at 4am on a Wednesday morning and it not be a problem. The party was drawing to a close, the lights were up, people were making their excuses to leave and it was just me and a few deflated balloons.
Like many new graduates, I was facing the prospect of becoming a 'boomerang kid' and moving home. Eager to postpone any return to the 'my roof, my rules, get up, stop leaving socks everywhere' situation, I find myself en route to my friend's sofa. I have a rucksack on my back and a guitar, jar of pennies and pot plant in my arms. Four years spent at university to get the bohemian nomad look down to perfection. As I walk past the man who lives under the tree at the bottom of my old road, he gives me a 'good luck' nod – the kind of nod bus drivers exchange when they cross one another.
And so begins the relentless job application process, paused only to answer the badgering phone calls from my parents who are "just asking how the job hunt's going, you are looking aren't you?" and wade through the oncoming stream of generic rejections. Such fun.
I go full time with the catering company I worked part time for throughout university. While I'm a massive advocate of coffee, it was never the dream after four years of university to spend hours making it for strangers each day, but my colleagues are lovely and it puts discounted bread and cheese on the table. It also takes me to outdoor events such as horse trials and I get to quiz customers and learn things about horses I never knew.
The pressure to secure that 'dream job' after university and the expectations of family and friends can be suffocating but with an increasing retirement age and a working life span set to stretch way into 2050, there's time to make coffee and learn about horses. It's also a good time to indulge in all the activities I previously felt guilty doing. I can read for pleasure, for pleasure people!!
Like a lot of graduates across the country right now, I'm in a grey area. But as with most things that sit between the back and white, the grey area is often the most interesting.
It's not that I'm trying to undermine the frustration of anyone in my position; the graduate job market can leave you feeling pretty hopeless and I don't doubt that I'll get frustrated and throw hard objects at my laptop once in a while. As an overall strategy for approaching life after university though, I don't think getting mad and weeping suits me. I gave it a go, but it's exhausting and boring and nobody wants to be friends with a whinge. I have friends who have been working really hard in jobs since they left school at 16 and when I put myself in their shoes, I wouldn't have the patience for people like me; people moaning about how hard life is after four years spent dabbling in activities like fencing (just because I could and it was worth a try; I was awful), being hungover, cooking rice badly and watching more Dawsons Creek than is advised if you want to be an emotionally stable individual.
It's sad when a chapter you loved comes to a close and scary when the next one is so blank, but with the right attitude and an open mind, it has the potential to be pretty exciting and I think as graduates, we would do well to remember in the words of good old John Lennon, 'life is what happens when you're busy planning...'
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more content and advice like this direct to your inbox, sign up for our weekly Careers update.
