Consider your options
Education is important, and we're coming up to that time of year where people in their final year of school will begin to sit their final exams and begin to move closer and closer to their university start dates, worrying about money and making new friends, trying to learn how to cook substantial meals and looking forward to the highly anticipated Fresher's Week. It's a time that is filled with huge amounts of different emotions.
When I was at school, it was forced down my throat that the only way forward was university. I couldn't achieve anything, couldn't get a good career and be happy in life if I didn't have a degree. Furthermore, that degree had to be academic to be worthwhile. I felt uncomfortable about it from the get go, not feeling excited when having to look around universities, not interested in learning about the history behind photography (the course I was looking at then) but rather wanting to start doing photography there and then. It was a difficult time for me, more difficult than I really let on to anyone. My school hadn't provided me with any alternatives, my mum wanted me to go to gain independence and for me to be the first Matthews member to attend university and my dad wanted me to "do what made me happy". None of this helped me at all.
So undecided was I that I decided to defer my application for a year, trying to put my doubts to rest. I had successfully got a place at London Southbank University to study Photography but I just knew it wasn't quite right. I didn't feel excited about going- I felt dread. I decided to have a year out to study photography at my local college in order to get a head start on my uni course and build up my confidence in the subject area, having never studied it before. Oh, and to ease me back into learning with boys, too, given that I came from an all girls school! I hoped all of this would get me ready for university the following September.
Somehow, I ended up not on a photography course but on a Creative Business course. Nothing like what I wanted to study but somehow even better (thankfully!). Around the same time that I started college, I started getting into the media industry too, which you can read more about here. So now I had my fingers in lots of pies and suddenly more options were open to me. Careers I'd only ever dreamt of, options I'd never even considered. It was like a total light bulb moment when I realised that I wanted to go into journalism- but of course, I had always loved writing. It seemed so obvious now.
So what did I do? I altered my university course, changing from plain old photography to multimedia journalism, a course which combined journalism and photography, as well as some other digital elements. This felt encouraging now, more promising and more like something I could willingly study for three or more years before settling down in a career based on it. But as time crept on and the end of my gap year was in sight, I had to seriously consider the idea of university. I had met so many influential people who had opened up several exciting opportunities and avenues to me. I had created a great contacts book, my blog was growing by the day, I was doing work experience in places I had never dreamed were in reach for me and as working my butt off 24/7. I knew what I wanted to do and I had a pretty firm idea on how to get where I wanted to be. Did I really need to fork out all of that money, move away from home and study for three years to continue doing what I was essentially already doing?
No was the simple answer to that question. But without uni, what would I do instead? Go straight into work? Well, they say that signs don't exist, that there are no such things as coincidences. One day, browsing through Twitter, I saw a tweet from a college about a discounted NCTJ diploma course. You studied online, in your own time and there were countless journalism routes to specialise in. It was amazing. Finally, I knew what I wanted to do, what I had to do. I signed up for the NCTJ diploma course, specialising in Magazine Journalism, and withdrew my university application. It was so scary and I panicked that I was throwing away a great opportunity, disappointing my family and making a huge mistake...but I can confidently say it turned out to be the best move I've ever made and I don't regret it at all. To quote Augustus Waters, "I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up", and I have been since I left education and made my way into the big, bad world.
After this long and rambly post, what I'm trying to tell you is this; there are other options. So many schools drum into their students that uni is the only thing you can do, the only option that will give you results. This isn't true, there are so many other things you can do to get your dream job. Hard work and perseverance will get you everywhere- and in the end, it usually is more about who you know rather than what you know. If you don't feel 100% confident or happy with your decision, take more time to think about it. Don't worry about making anyone else happy and don't try to live up to anyone else's expectations. Don't base your decision about what to do after school on anyone else's preferences or happiness. Base it on yours.
University, work, internships, whatever you choose to do, it all starts a new chapter of your life and that is a big decision. It had to be yours and it has to make you happy- they are the only two things that matter. University wasn't for me and I think I always knew that, deep down. I'm now doing some incredible alternatives and couldn't be happier. It just took me that extra year to think about it, and I'm so glad I decided to take that extra bit of time. University isn't a decision to be rushed into so don't feel bad about taking a year out yourself if you need more time to think about it. Just be happy. I can't stress it enough.
And hey, you can always change your mind. Some people go to uni when they're in their twenties, their fifties! Consider your options, go with the flow and...do what makes you happy!
Do you have advice or tips for someone trying to make up their mind about university? Share them in the comments below!
Love from,
Florence Grace
Enjoy this? Why not try... Dream, Believe, Achieve | University- The Pros and Cons
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ReplyDeleteI don't know about you, but I've realised that schools that push kids into university only do it to increase their stats, which is so wrong in my opinion!
Chichi
http://chichi-writes.blogspot.co.uk/
Yep! I attended a grammar school so stats were EVERYTHING. I realise now the reason they pushed so hard for everyone to go to uni was so it looked good on their records! So terrible, especially when they don't consider the needs and happiness of each individual pupil!
DeleteA lot of schools where I'm from (South London) are like that! Grammar schools tend to care more about stats and high academic achievement so I'm not surprised! It's the same with a lot of private schools and academies! I went to a relatively well-performing state school which has since gained academy status (ɪ don't know when that happened but it's a relatively recent change). The staff only cared about statistics and how good the school looked to the local community, parents and the local press. The school didn't care about the kids at all but unfortunately ɪ learned that the hard way.
DeleteYes my school was an all girls grammar school and statistics were even posted on the WALLS, showing who had got into what uni and to study what- all academic, no creatives and all very high grades etc. The pressure the school put on the girls for the statistics was unreal.
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