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FILE In this Friday, June 8, 2012 file photo Lucy Nicholls poses for a photograph at a graduate show in London. Things are looking up for Lucy Nicholls. The 22-year-old fashion graduate has landed a freelance job in set design for a new London jewelry boutique, which found Lucy through her blog.
LONDON—Things are looking up for Lucy Nicholls.

The 22-year-old fashion graduate has landed a freelance job in set design for a new London jewelry boutique, which found Lucy through her blog.

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This is an update of Class of 2012, the AP's yearlong exploration of Europe's economic crisis through the eyes of five young graduates.

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The last few weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Lucy. The last time we met her, she was reeling from the blow of learning that the company she'd hired to print her graduation project, Wish Magazine, went bust—leaving her in a >2,000 ($3,100) hole.

She went on a frantic scramble for one-off jobs to help her make ends meet, picking up a couple of photography gigs but nothing to ease the sense of being flat broke.

"Before this I was really struggling," she says.

Now life looks brighter. She managed to get her magazine printed and is shipping copies out.

And with her new work, she's breathing a sigh of relief "knowing I'll somehow be able to live."

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Next up ... Moira

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