Kira's Diary - Is Higher Education Worth It?

When I was in sixth form (years 12 and 13 for those that do not know what sixth form is, and for my friends across the pond in America that is junior and senior year), all that was ever the topic of conversation, whether with friends, teachers or family, was education and university. As we were sitting our A-Levels at this time, all we were told to do was get good grades so that we could go to a decent university; we had no other conversations with anyone about getting a job or trying to start a career with these grades. But looking back on it, I can't help but wonder; is education, especially further education, really worth all the hassle and debt?

The last couple of years at my school weren't exactly the greatest for myself. I went through a lot of changes in regard to friends, I turned 18 and started changing a lot about myself; but my school went through a lot, also, with systems and control shifting and changing, which affected the rules, how the school was ran and our education.
By the time I was in year 13, my school didn't have the best reputation, so the only way they could polish up their image was to send as many students as they could to credible universities, and show that their new system is working effectively. But this meant that we were never truly aware of what we could achieve by just leaving school with our A-Levels and starting our careers, as my school made it their mission to persuade us that we could not start an amazing career without having a degree.

My parents being business people, they knew that this was not the case, especially as my step dad has built his own company from scratch, with only a few GCSE's under his belt. I was always shown both sides as I had always seen university as an option, however my parents were swayed towards apprenticeships and schemes that I could start straight out of sixth form, as the cost to attend university is extortionate and these seemed just as beneficial to kick-starting my future as university was.

Like with anything, there are many myths that surround university that I want to dress for you guys; some being good and some being bad.
The first is university is not as credible as it used to be. If you had looked to attend university about 10 years ago, having a degree would've been one of the most amazing things to have on a CV, as it was quite rare due to how expensive courses were seen to be. Nowadays, it is no secret that there are a lot more students that attend university, as it is easier to access. But this doesn't mean that you shouldn't go, as a degree still gives you that platform that you can add on to your CV.
However, another myth is that some jobs only take people that have a degree. This is completely incorrect; I hear that a lot of people truly believe you can only get a high profile job if you have a degree, but if you really work for it you can achieve anything, and there are a lot of jobs that will look at A-Levels or GCSE's and that will be enough for them!
Next, you hear a lot about how students cannot get jobs after university. There is a lot of speculation saying that if you attend university, your chance of obtaining a job after is extremely slim, however the amount of students getting jobs after studying is growing fast, which eliminates this whole myth. This links to another that says employers often avoid employing students as they usually do not have as much work experience, but students are seen as the hardest workers, in my opinion. You often get the "students are lazy" people, but how many people do you know that can go out on a 3-night bender, work in the day time in between and then sit an exam the morning after, all without sleep? I'm just kidding, but most students have to work in order to pay their debts, meaning that the majority of students have work experience, and doing this in between studying and writing dissertations shows how much they have to do. It's extremely ironic when people say students are lazy, but adults that are working and going to night school or the 'Open University' are considered the most hardworking, when in reality they are basically identical (once again, not all people think this, though, but there are a few).

I think, like with everything, there are positives and negatives to university, but just to sum everything up I thought I'd write them in list form, just in case you are contemplating these yourself;

Positives to University;

• You get to experience the world a little more
• It gives you an easier step in to living on your own and moving out
• You do end up with a higher completed CV
• Some degrees do give you a better platform (for example, I studying Business Management with Marketing with a placement year, which means I will have a year out working with a company, which may give me a job in the future)
• Partying is great (if you love partying go to University of Brighton, honestly the best place for night life)
• You do actually learn quite a lot; the amount I have learnt in the past year is truly astounding
• Although bills are high, a lot of students say you hardly notice payments when you leave, and you do not have to make payments until you secure a job with a salary of £21,000 or over

Negatives to University;

• Obviously the big one; payments and debts are an extortionate amount
• You do have to live the poor life when paying rent and bills; you don't realise how cushy life is at home until you experience student accommodation 
• It is extremely stressful having to juggle studying, attending classes, a job, and ensuring you have enough money to pay rent and bills as well as food/necessities, etc.
• When you meet up with friends that didn't go to university you realise how much money they have compared to you
• A job gives you a lot of experience with dealing with real life situations
• You learn how to adult a lot quicker

So, hopefully if you are reading this and were struggling choosing whether to attend higher education or not, this has been helpful for you in some kind of way.

In my opinion, coming from someone that studies at university, I must admit I did have doubts before I moved down. Seeing my friends staying to work and having a job myself throughout summer, I started to think whether I truly needed university or not, and if I should just stay working and earn more money before toiling towards a promotion. However starting uni and realising that I didn't want to stay working at New Look all my life, I soon realised that I made the right choice and I wouldn't change it for the world. It may be a struggle, and there is a lot of difficulty that comes with it, but I already know, starting my 2nd year, that these will be the best years of my life and I'm excited to see what is to come. 

If you are worried about university or have any questions/queries then feel free to tweet me and I'll help ya out; I understand how you're feeling! Here are my social media accounts, feel free to follow/subscribe, the content is of high standard; I promise!

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