We have been at the point (or at least getting to the point) were A-Levels are fast approaching, and it’s time to decide where you want to go in future. I would like to say this point brings us to a cross road, however the way it has always been presented, was to take a singular path towards university, the cross road wasn’t whether to go to university or not, but what course to do. The reality is, at that stage of life, you have no clue what you want to do as a career, and in fact only 27 percent of university grads have a job related to their degree.
Needless to say, university is still a great place to start as it provides stability going into your career, however the rising costs of university doesn’t seem to be equivalent to the education received. Especially so in the UK as being fifth most expensive destination for university. I learnt this fairly quickly stepping into university (admittedly in a pandemic) that my (£9k a term) Graphic Design degree was all online learning, what I soon learnt was that you could get an equal amount of education onto how to be a Graphic Designer from free YouTube videos and university backed £30 courses on Coursera. This then lead me down a rabbit hole of reconsidering whether university was simply worth it. I knew that university was a great place to go for social interaction, in fact in my eyes, university is social interaction disguised by education. Which raised a question, is an apprenticeship/job really deprived of social interaction?
No.
When you work at a company who hire apprentices along with you, then you are all in the same boat, in fact there is so much fun to have with colleagues that goes beyond the misconception that work is sitting at a screen all day. The idea that I could learn, earn and make life long friends without the burden of university debt hanging over my head was nothing but the best choice to make. I have learnt so much more from practical experience for both my skill set and my ability to build connections, than I had ever from university.
The only wish I had, was that the choice of an apprenticeship was presented an as an option when applying for university, as I wish I knew about it sooner.
The truth of the matter is, university courses can’t keep up with the constant changing landscape of careers. When you have some 16 year old YouTubers making more money than VP’s of Fortune 500 companies, that’s when you know the paradigm has shifted, consequently eroding the value of university.
What is important to caveat, is if your trying to be a doctor, lawyer, architect or engineer etc. Then please please go to university, as a course on YouTube won’t suffice!
