Sunday 19 April 2015

Making the Decision to Leave University

Today's post is going to cover quite a serious, and what I deem as an important topic: dropping out of university.
December 2014 I made that decision and I haven't looked back since. University was a period of mixed emotions for me.
I went there expecting to love every minute and I did love a lot of my time there, admittedly I wasn't there for long but hey ho. 


The problems began when I realised that my course wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. I imagined Events Management to be amazing, full of amazing opportunities and a bright future, when in reality I was being taught how to put a burger van into a field. My lecturers constantly told us to volunteer as it was experience that would get us a job.. Which led me to think that if it's experience that I need, then why am I paying £9 grand a year for a degree that I essentially do not need.


In terms of volunteering, the opportunities that were given to us were things like handing out maps to people visiting a farm festival. I mean I know you have to start somewhere, but to me that is making young people do jobs that quite frankly, no one who works for you would ever want to do. 

So that's when I started to realise that the course was all wrong for me, and maybe university itself was too.

In terms of the student lifestyle, I didn't think it was all that great either. Everyone around me was so lazy, not getting up until 3 each day, missing lectures and complaining they had no money, but not doing anything about it.
Whereas I worked whilst I was at university, which I think was a huge impact to why I left. I had money coming in each month and that felt good. So good. A proper income rather than the student loan. I had learnt the importance of money, whereas my friends were more than willing to spend all their money and then complain. 

I mean, I enjoy going out as much as the next person, but I think I maybe grew up and matured before a lot of other young people. I knew what I wanted out of life and saw uni as a means to an end, rather than a laugh and being able to hold onto youth for an extra 3 years. I was willing to work hard for success and made the mature decision to drop out and start the real journey to success on my own.

I now feel like I have something that not everyone else has: experience and determination. Everyone has a degree these days but not everyone understands that opportunities aren't going to put out to you on a platter; you have to work for them. 

I am so much happier now, working and not doing a degree and I haven't looked back since. University just was not worth it, there was no support from lecturers and no one to reach out to. 

If you are having doubts about whether going to university will be right for you, or even if you're there now and are thinking about leaving, I'd say do what is right for you. If you aren't happy. Leave. It was the best thing I ever did. 

Even in everyday life, if something isn't making you happy, leave it behind and don't look back. 

I'm now working for what I want out of life and couldn't be happier.

I hope this post has maybe helped you or just opened your eyes slightly to life outside of the social stigma of university.

Let me know your experiences as I'd love to hear all ends of the spectrum!


4 comments:

  1. Great post. I actually graduated from uni last year and whilst I'm glad I carried on with it and got a degree, I don't feel I have benefited from it hugely and probably could have done more with my time had I not gone. I think it just seems to be expected of young people to go to uni today and that's why many go - not necessarily because they actually want to and are passionate enough about a subject to dedicate 3+ years to it. Good on you for realising it wasn't for you and doing something about it! :)

    Beth x

    Bethany Georgina

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well done! I think if it's actually what you want to do then go for it, but like you said, there's other ways to spend your time, and probably get you to the same position! Too much pressure! Thankyou, I didn't know how people would react to this post! X

      Delete
  2. Uni isn't for everyone! I never wanted to go when I left school so I worked in retail and got an apprenticeship. I only started uni this year. I think you will know when you're doing something right for you as your views totally change! There is so many other ways to go about jobs and stuff now, half the time you don't even need a degree x

    www.throughneweyesx.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was convinced it was the only thing I wanted to do! But it's something you either love and commit to or hate and just look for anything and everything else to do. I was so miserable and now I'm back to my normal self in my job! X

      Delete