The One Where Quite A Lot Of Stuff Changed

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So, 2008 is nearly over, and it's that time of year between Christmas and the new year – wittily known as "Old Year's Week" by one contributor to The Daily Telegraph's letters page this week – when people look back at the events of the last twelve months.

For me, this year will probably be remembered as The One Where Quite A Lot Of Stuff Changed. I finished university back in the spring, putting an end to nearly fifteen years of full-time education (and, to be frank, fifteen years of keeping the Real World at arm's length). Now, I have a full-time job, and with it, the right to moan/worry about grown-up things like the Credit Crunch, the threat of recession, politics and interest rates.

The culture of British life has undergone a huge shift in the last decade; caution was thrown to the wind as people began to live beyond their means. Getting hold of cash – cold, hard money – became so easy, that today's generation have come to accept the ability to borrow as a right rather than a privilege. I'm very lucky for two reasons: firstly, my (Student Loan) debts are on extremely favourable terms, and I don't really have to worry about paying them off. Secondly, joining the workforce at this time of financial insecurity means that my fellow graduates and I will continue to manage our money carefully. It's frustrating that even with a paid job, one has to live like a student, but that's life.

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