In the moment, getting a 2.2 is devastating. Your peers are celebrating get a 2.1 or a 1^st whilst you’re left feeling embarrassed and defeated. You feel your life plan is crumbling and that there’s nothing you can do about it. But there is… you can adjust the plan.

I was absolutely crushed, I cried for days. I had just spent 3 years of my life and a lot of money on something I felt was absolutely useless. That was not the plan! My confidence was at an all-time low. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Nothing is worse than people reminding you that it could have been worse, that at least you didn’t get a 3^rd. I cried and sulked right up to my graduation, which was definitely more for my family than it was for me. I slapped on a smile and took those pictures, because that’s what three years of tuition had earned me.

There’s only so much you can cry before you realise you’re just delaying your blessings. It’s hard, but you have to personally figure out why you got a 2.2. I sat with myself and realised I didn’t like my degree at all and that I had no heart in it. I was doing it as a means to an end. It was an expensive chore. Even if I did get a 1^st, it wasn’t something I could see myself spending most of my life doing… chemistry… dry. It wasn’t my personality at all. I made this decision at 17 with a lot of pressure from school and family. No idea what I wanted to do and chose a subject that, at the time, I was good at.

Once I figured that out, the next step was pulling together skills that I had gained from my degree and seeing what I could offer the job market. I obviously still tried looking at chemical careers that would accept a 2.2. Error! Curiosity definitely killed the cat. That sent me back to Go and I did not collect £200. You get that dose of reality that not only was the job market sparse, but that you could only get in with a minimum requirement of 2.1.

I had to be my own cheerleader here and read my CV over and over to realise that I had gained skills, I had experiences, I was valuable.

I had done a lot before those three years and during those three years. Two numbers separated by a period was not going to diminish that. I was looking at it wrong. It wasn’t about what I could offer employers, but what they could offer me. I needed a career and not a job. I needed something that would give me a sense of fulfilment I didn’t get from my degree.

A more effective job search began because I was entering the job market with the mind set of someone who had a lot to offer rather than someone who felt they had nothing to offer. When applying for jobs, I was no longer looking at what requirements I didn’t have – but what I did have. That makes a huge difference and it’s something I have continued to do within my career.

Looking back on it, I’m obviously not happy that I got a 2.2, but I’m not sad about it either. It’s a life experience that has helped me realise that ‘failure’ isn’t the end.

If anything, it’s a funny blip you look back on and realise you were far too dramatic and life goes on because it has to. You’re more than your degree.