Friday 9 May 2014

What on earth am I going to do with my life?

UCAS has probably been one of my most heard and said words within the last six months. Since September it seems that all I, and my friends, could think and talk about was 'what uni are you going to?' and 'what course are you planning on doing'. But what if you don't want to go to uni? Do you just go with the flow of endless rewriting of personal statements and UCAS track? Or do you decide that university isn't for you and search for other options? For me right now it is definitely the latter and not only because the UCAS deadline is long gone.

Of course at the beginning of the year I was as excited as anyone about moving away from home and living on my own. I even went to several open days at universities and honestly loved them. But I very occasionally felt that I was just going with the flow as other options weren't really explored too much at my sixth form. And then one day I just decided. University isn't for me. And despite my friends repeatedly asking 'are you sure?' and my granddad viewing it as 'a disappointment' that isn't going to change. Sometimes I just wanted to scream 'I don't have to go to university! It isn't compulsory!' I know I'd be crap at university, for a few simple reasons:

  • I know I wouldn't study. I do the bare minimum now and I despise it.
  • Money was a big factor for me. University right now is very expensive and the thought of the thousands of pounds of debt I'd be in when I left isn't justified for me at the moment.
  • I didn't know what I wanted to do for a job after I left university, so what on earth was I going to study?

I completely understand that for many people university is essential for their dream job or they just feel that it's the right path for them. But everyone is different so why should everyone follow the same path? So I decided to look for other options and settled on doing an apprenticeship because if I wasn't going to have a degree I felt like I'd need something to show that I made the right choice. Right now I'm planning to do a Marketing/ Social Media Apprenticeship and am looking for the right placement, but I'm still in sixth form so I have some time. As I've seen from the people around me it's very unlikely for someone my age not to either go straight on to uni or plan to after a gap year and a lot of people disagreed with my decision insisting that I'd regret it. But so far, I haven't. I'm so glad that I didn't just follow along with what everyone else was doing and I know I'm going to be much happier for it. And if later on in my life I decide I want to go to university, I can! It isn't exclusively for 18 year olds!


*disclaimer*
This is completely my own opinion and please don't see this as my trying to put people off going to university. This is just how I felt and what I am now doing following these decisions. I don't mean any offence to those who disagree with me. Thank you!


--Millie xx

7 comments:

  1. I agree with you that university isn't exclusively for 18 year olds. Although I am at university now, I didn't go straight away after school as I wasn't sure about what I wanted to do either. It took me travelling to South America and working out there to discover what I loved.
    Don't be afraid of being different. University is not for everyone. If you are happy, then you have made the right choice! You're not missing out on anything if you believe you're on the right path.

    All the best,
    Nadia x.
    P.S. Hope you'll follow back.

    www.travelhelphopelove.blogspot.com

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    1. I completely agree that it doesn't really matter what you're doing as long you're happy. Thank you so much for your comment! I love your blog by the way!
      - Millie x

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  2. Its brilliant that you haven't felt pressured into doing anything you don't want to, you will go when you are ready, or not at all. It's your choice! I've also nominated you for the very inspirational blogger award, and you can check it out here: http://prettyinpips.blogspot.co.uk/ xx

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    1. I'm so glad someone agrees with me! And thank you so much for the nomination!
      - Millie xx

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  3. Oh my god, I have finally found someone who had the exact same opinion as me! I did the same and everyone was like, "are you sure? It'll be a laugh, you'll be missing out! Why won't you go?" and all I kept replying was "It's not my thing, I don't even study now so how am I going to cope with Uni? and to be honest I don't fancy leaving an education that doesn't even promise me a job, with nearly £25,000 in debt"

    I'm actually really happy I've found someone who thought the same about it, now I can say I'm not the only person who doesn't want to go haha!

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment, it's mad that people think you're crazy for doing something different! Strangely, quite a lot of people at my sixth form have decided against university at least for the time being but I'm glad that you have now found someone of similar mind!
      - Millie xx

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    2. Weirdly, the same thing has happened in my sixth form, most people who were questioning my choices have now decided against university. Sorry if my name has changed, I just changed my blog and stuff so its gonna look different as I reply haha! Anyway, thanks for replying to me!

      - Jenny xx

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