When I was younger I never really knew what I wanted to be. I was sort of in a haze between doing something I was good at or doing something that I as going to enjoy at that time. Truthfully there was nothing more that I wanted to be than a hairdresser. But really I knew that was only because I enjoyed chopping off the hair on my dolls, or styling my mum or sisters hair. I knew for someone like me that wasn’t really going to work out as a career choice, as not only was I and still am indecisive meaning that I couldn’t make a decision to save my life, but I also got pretty bored easily, and I enjoyed and thrived on challenges. I just needed to figure out what do to after college.
I needed something that was going to keep my brain ticking and challenge me on a day to day basis. And hairdressing for me, wasn’t quite going to cut it. Hence why I kept it as a hobby and here I am with my blog.On the other hand, academically I was only really “bright” up until year 9. After then, I got bored of going to school day in day out, and I’ll admit it now, there was a whole year where I didn’t turn up to classes for a particular subject. I just threw myself into the world of work going from a part time retail assistant, to a full time retail assistant working 9am to 8pm on a daily basis. It was money and the driver to reach targets that drove me.
Somehow I managed to walk out of college with decent grades – three A levels under my belt, but I was still so unsure as to what I wanted to do. I 100% didn’t want to go to university as honestly, maybe I’m the first person to say it, but the university “experience” didn’t really appeal to me. I certainly was not in the frame of mind to continue studying full time either. I was then left in the rut, that a lot of students are left in, asking myself what on earth I wanted to do with my life.
First things first, I knew in the world of work, the big adult world, you would need a bit more than just A Levels if you were going to cut it. Most companies now require some degree or level of experience to even be considered for an assessment day or interview. With that in mind there really were only three options for me: 1) Go to university and figure out what degree I wanted to pursue, 2) find a part time job to give me some sort of work experience, and hope that I would eventually figure out what it is I wanted to do, or 3) get through college with my A-levels and get myself an apprenticeship. Even though I had these three options available to me, I still didn’t know what to do – I felt like I was at a loss, but I knew first and foremost I really didn’t want to study any more than I needed to. I had the view of, the sooner I could get out of college the better.
For me, option 1 was not feasible. It would mean finding something that interested me enough to want to study it for three years, or maybe even more. At that point in life, I really wasn’t interested in committing myself to any studying. I was already home studying for my A-levels and doing the bare minimum I could; I knew exactly what I was going to be like had I gone to university. There were also so many statistics out there about how university debt was stopping people from buying their first home, and delaying other important life events. It just wasn’t something that appealed to me. Although there were many people saying I was making a huge mistake not going to university, because I would miss out on the “experience”, I didn’t really find that I missed out on much. Drinking, getting drunk, and just the student life didn’t appeal to me – yes I got so much stick for this as people thought I was too mature, but it didn’t bother me. I had a goal in life, and I knew the only way I could get there was by getting some real life experience – through working.
Option 2 on the other hand just seemed like I was going to waste time. I knew so many people who had taken up this option, and just ended up staying where they were working. Most of the time this would be within retail. At which point it was a bit too late to go to university and study as people would just get on with the rest of their lives. At the time I was a sales assistant at Currys retail, as much as I was making enough money for a student, it wasn’t something that really challenged me, and again I got bored really quickly there. There also weren’t many options made open to me within a degree – this is where the availabilities open up to graduates who are usually taking the fast route to management.
Lastly, there was option 3. This was something I didn’t have too much information on at the time. To me an apprenticeship was in the form of doing manual labour – such as a mechanic r plumber. Honestly, I wasn’t aware of how many careers could start off with apprenticeships – you can go into accountancy, which is what I did, a nursery assistant, catering, IT etc. Whilst completing the apprenticeship, I wasn’t just earning money, but I was also learning new skills and studying at the same time. At least then I had the best of both worlds, I was able to save enough money to put down a deposit to buy my own property, but I was also being challenged by going to college and studying for professional exams.
Even though at the time, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and wasn’t really convinced by doing accountancy, I thought of it in the sense of if I passed my exams I could go on to start my own business, or work on something new, as long as I had a vocational qualification to my name. I wasn’t being made to study all the time; I was doing two things at the same time.
You don’t need to be the smartest person to get a good job, you just need to want it and stick to it. A degree isn’t everything, and it won’t guarantee shaping your future.
What did you decide to do after college?
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