It’s hard to accept, but there comes a time when every twenty-something must leave the university bubble and head into the real world. Though many complain their way through education, most of us don’t know what to do when it’s over. That’s when post-university depression kicks in.

Faced with decades of 9-5 days, Tesco meal deals and Janet from HR, we wonder, what’s next? Is this it? According to a City Mental Health Alliance survey, 49% of students experience mental health issues after graduation, and it was no surprise that I became one of them.

I always put my heart and soul into studying, sometimes too much, so being out of education was a huge shift for me. Although I’ve learnt a lot in my job and I’ve challenged myself by going freelance, I still felt lost without more traditional academic challenges. So, this year I want to read more challenging books to get my brain going again.

For me, that doesn’t mean reams of Tolstoy and Nietzche. I’d rather push myself to read more novels in Spanish or to check out some challenging non-fiction. This decision was in part inspired by my partner, who has decided to read more this year by taking on a list of ‘100 books you should read before you die’. Though I won’t be going as hard as him (he started with Dante’s The Divine Comedy for some bizarre reason) I’m excited to get started.

So far, I’ve been reading ‘Un Cóctel en Chueca’ by Josu Diamond and it’s so nice to be reading in Spanish again. I’m learning lots of new vocabulary specific to the queer community alongside some interesting cultural references. I also love that the chapters are short, so the pace moves quickly even though the book is 450 pages long.

After that, I have a lot to choose from: A Shakespeare play? A Russian classic I’ve been too intimated to try? Plato? Stay tuned for updates.