The Student Room Group

Ruby Granger is not where I expected her to be

I used to be obsessed with studytubers, specifically Ruby Granger.

Woke up feeling nostalgic and thought I would see what she is up to now. Someone with her life of 14 hour study days and productivity must be doing great (I hoped).

But she is on a gap year sitting in her bedroom doing nothing but busywork and reading kids books.

what?

I know this shouldnt be a competition but I used to feel so **** when comparing myself to her. I never thought I would be good enough but I am engaged, have a great job, continuing my education alongside it and doing so much with myself. All while the great Ruby Granger is doing nothing.

It feels so weird and incorrect. (No hate to her)

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She's not doing nothing. She's having a great life travelling around and relaxing on the money she earned from people like you watching her videos.
Original post by Schmyga
I used to be obsessed with studytubers, specifically Ruby Granger.

Woke up feeling nostalgic and thought I would see what she is up to now. Someone with her life of 14 hour study days and productivity must be doing great (I hoped).

But she is on a gap year sitting in her bedroom doing nothing but busywork and reading kids books.

what?

I know this shouldnt be a competition but I used to feel so **** when comparing myself to her. I never thought I would be good enough but I am engaged, have a great job, continuing my education alongside it and doing so much with myself. All while the great Ruby Granger is doing nothing.

It feels so weird and incorrect. (No hate to her)


Life isn’t a competition. From what I’ve gathered she is on a gap year so she can focus on writing books and poetry. Success and fulfilment can look different for different people
Original post by newuserr
Life isn’t a competition. From what I’ve gathered she is on a gap year so she can focus on writing books and poetry. Success and fulfilment can look different for different people

the first sentence is true, those who realize this can truly enjoy living
Original post by newuserr
Life isn’t a competition. From what I’ve gathered she is on a gap year so she can focus on writing books and poetry. Success and fulfilment can look different for different people

I'm not really a fan of studytubers but taking a gap year to write books and poetry is probably better than studying 14 hours a day tbh.
Yes. I think that she's a really good example of a student who focuses too much on reading books and writing essays but does not actually give any thought about her career prospects and her future. I also don't mean any hate, but that's how a lot of university graduates are. Not everyone of course, but a lot of students even at uni spend time trying to figure themselves out and understand what they want to do. If writing poems and books is her passion then she should've just done that instead of going to uni. She also focuses too much on grades but not enough on networking and connections. The truth is that when you leave university nobody cares about your grades. It is all about who you know rather than what you know. I admit that I got my first office job by having things in common with my employees rather than because of my grades or skills.
Original post by username6059295
Yes. I think that she's a really good example of a student who focuses too much on reading books and writing essays but does not actually give any thought about her career prospects and her future. I also don't mean any hate, but that's how a lot of university graduates are.


I dunno how fair that is to say when she already has the career she has. She v likely makes more than I do for less time.
Original post by Talkative Toad
I'm not really a fan of studytubers but taking a gap year to write books and poetry is probably better than studying 14 hours a day tbh.


PRSOM
I don't watch StudyTubers and I don't really like her because I think her content isn't authentic and she is very problematic, but what I don't understand about people like OP and what they choose to criticise her for is the toxic assumption that everyone wants the same things in life. People don't. You just made this post to feel better about yourself. That's sad, not how she is choosing to spend her gap year, which is none of your business.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by Schmyga
I used to be obsessed with studytubers, specifically Ruby Granger.

Woke up feeling nostalgic and thought I would see what she is up to now. Someone with her life of 14 hour study days and productivity must be doing great (I hoped).

But she is on a gap year sitting in her bedroom doing nothing but busywork and reading kids books.

what?

I know this shouldnt be a competition but I used to feel so **** when comparing myself to her. I never thought I would be good enough but I am engaged, have a great job, continuing my education alongside it and doing so much with myself. All while the great Ruby Granger is doing nothing.

It feels so weird and incorrect. (No hate to her)

tbh I dont really see much of a problem with that. Thats just life. So what she is not like how she was studying alll her life. This is my first time finding out about her lol and tbh 14 hour study days is I think the most unproductive thing to do. I dont know if it was the trend for studytubers - Personally I wasnt a fan really - for the productivity to be high for burn out but yh I do understand it looks unusual after all that work though initially. But I think its just nice as long as she is content. Life changes anyway and her doing "nothing" is still a good stage now.
Never compare yourself to anyone else on the internet or basically anyone lol. You will never be happy if you do anyway and people and you will be going through up and down stages in life so comparison is pointless as you never know what is next As long as you focus on yourself only you will be happier.
But good for you though with all your progress with yourself in you job and education and everything. Keep it up!!!! :smile:
Original post by StriderHort
I dunno how fair that is to say when she already has the career she has. She v likely makes more than I do for less time.


I do apologise. I did not consider that when I wrote the post. You have a very good point. She does earn more than anyone. It's just that I didn't see YouTube as a job really. But you have very good point. I think she earns something like £100,000 per year just from her content and that's insane. YouTube is one of those things that only 5% of people get so lucky. There's very very few studytubers like her who earn that much. She is extremely lucky to have a channel like that. She doesn't even upload that much. I think she only uploads every 2 weeks or something. But I think the point is that you don't need good grades to be successful. Having good connections, starting your own business or content creating like she does can also be a great way to earn money. That being said, not everyone will be as lucky. Businesses fail. What if her channel dies and she no longer makes money from it? But imagine someone who doesn't have a YouTube channel like that and most people don't.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by Trinculo
She's not doing nothing. She's having a great life travelling around and relaxing on the money she earned from people like you watching her videos.

She wouldn’t have earned that much from YouTube videos. Most of hers have 100,000 views or so, which equates to about £20-£260 per video
Reply 12
Original post by username6059295
]she's a really good example of a student who focuses too much on reading books and writing essays but does not actually give any thought about her career prospects and her future


Considering she just graduated from a top uni with a first class degree last summer, it's hard to say she's doing 'nothing'! In fact, she's running a successful business selling study tools (from planners to stationery), as well as collaborating with other companies. So she's running a successful business all by herself, and it is a business she enjoys.

She's also writing with the aim of getting published, and is just out living her life to the full! Ironically, for a student website, TSR seems to have weird standards of success. Yes, Ruby is focussed on reading and writing. She is a true academic with a love for English. Her 'career prospects and her future' are not what motivates her, but regardless, she is in the midst of a successful one.

It's funny that OP is talking about how insecure Ruby made her, and yet is here on a forum to revel in Ruby's 'disappointing' life (a life which Ruby is enjoying and thriving in). Life isn't a competition, and people are motivated by different things. Stay kind and focussed on your own growth :smile:
Apparently one of her parents is an options broker with several shell companies in the British Virgin Islands so I don't think it really matters what she does since she has the benefit of being able to do nothing and probably draw a salary better than most grads from just her parent's offshore account's monthly interest in the process.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by artful_lounger
Apparently one of her parents is an options broker with several shell companies in the British Virgin Islands so I don't think it really matters what she does since she has the benefit of being able to do nothing and probably draw a salary better than most grads from just her parent's offshore account's monthly interest in the process.


if true.. damn
Original post by TheYearNiner
if true.. damn

I mean it's from some random google source so, debatable as to the particulars, but in general the principle of "influencers" coming from extremely wealthy families is extremely common and not at all surprising.

After all, who else has the benefit of being able to stay at home without working and not being a burden, living in a large enough house with their family so as to leave each person with enough space to minimise the interpersonal conflicts that make living with family so challenging for most, and also having the capital to buy all the necessary equipment to professionally record their crap (not to mention connections with potential advertisers for product placement and in-video/etc paid advertising)?
Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd
PRSOM


Yeah studying or working that long in a day is unhealthy (I don't care what people have to say about this, I can't see any justification from a health point of view (and really don't think that we should be showing these kinds of videos on YT. (I studied 15 hours in 1 day, I did 60+ hours of studying this week etc)) to be doing this much work, it's toxic productivity in my opinion).


Or maybe it's jealousy from me but either way studying that long in 1 day on a regular basis (regular basis doesn't have to mean everything day) or to the point where you've normalised it ain't chief.


Ain't chief= slang for not good.
Though what you are saying is in good faith and I am sure you are not a bad person, she's actually doing better than most people. She has an affiliate product with one of the largest tea companies in the UK, she is invited to film and book openings unlike the rest of us, she runs a company called Pumpkin Productivity which people all around the world actually order, use and there are quite literally no flaws in any of the products she sells. She is working on a craft, crafts much like writing or music talent, take years and years to make perfect before you can produce work of value. I am happy that you are happy, but I am sad that you think she is doing nothing, it is such a capitalistic view to say she is doing nothing when she owns a company and has way more social clout that the average Joe. Working for herself is really quite the attribute at such a young age unlike you or me who works for a boss who has another boss who works for a company that has an another company above it. Try be a little more aware next time you look at someone and assume they're doing **** all because of what they put out on the Internet. Wishing you the best.
actually she just got into oxford for her masters this february
Original post by oHtheCalamity
actually she just got into oxford for her masters this february

That is just what I came here to mention. And again, a lot of the other people who replied had pretty good points too, i.e. people have different definitions of 'success' , she runs a stationary company, has released tea flavours and ofc is a Youtuber, and that she is probably really happy where she is; certainly not burdened financially (something that she has addressed in her videos, come to think of it, I remember her explicitly saying that she understands she comes from a position of privilege)

Secondly, the OP could have been a teensy less harsh on her. Firstly, Ruby's vlogs/videos come a few weeks after that specific day/event has taken place. So from what I can see, this 'gap year' was more like 6 months. Further, she worked part-time at a school when she wasn't travelling (from what I could make out, not a very regular viewer, this is what I ascertained from watching a few recent ones). So no, it's very common for undergraduates to take gap years to do something they want to try out. Why? Because they are so young. Anyhow, it was probably for the best as she was figuring stuff out and had decided to have some fun before diving straight into the Masters application process.

Anyhow, I don't know whether Ruby is sincere or not, but in the end, we end up worshipping Youtubers somehow or another. Maybe that's what the OP meant. But again, Ruby is pretty young, so I don't find it problematic at all. If you are 'getting on in life' that's wonderful. But to compare that with someone who probably has very different goals and is doing great anyway is a tad unfair.

Cheers everyone!

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