uni: yay or u-nay

Growing up, uni always seemed compulsory for me and I had never really considered not going - hence - I'm here! But experiencing uni, although only for 1 semester so far, I have realised it's not for everyone...

Cost - uni is expensive, there's no getting away from that. With a lot of UK unis being £9,000 a year, it's quite scary to work out the cost per hour (I have worked this out as only have 12 hours timetabled per week..). However, this is paid directly by Student finance UK and so it doesn't really have an immediate impact. The rest of your student loan (if you get one) goes towards both your student accommodation and general living costs (food, going out, clothes etc). This loan - as well as the tuition fee loan - is paid off once you finish uni but only once your salary reaches a certain level. The percentage you pay per month is based on your salary so its never really going to affect you too much. So although uni seems expensive, it never worried me too much that I would be leaving uni with £50,000+ (yeah really) debt because it's paid off in such small installments. Also, statistically, people with degrees tend to earn more money per year in later life.

However, this does not mean that uni is therefore compulsory as these statistics do not apply to everyone. And uni is definitely not the best option for every Tom, Dick and Harry (OR every Tasha, Danni and Holly #feminism). Uni is very reliant on self-motivation which not everyone has (I admit, I lack in this greatly at times...#netflix) and so going straight into the workplace, through an apprenticeship or internship for example, may be the best option for many people. For me, I did not feel ready to enter the world of work and wanted to learn more about Journalism before I lived it. However, going to uni simply because you're putting off actual work for the next 3+ years is not a good reason in itself. You need to choose a course that you really are interested in and have an idea where its going to take you.

So, you ask, what do I do if I'm not ready for work but I wouldn't know what degree to choose? Well, there's only really one answer. Research. Find out what you like. Talk to people. Find a job that interests you and find out what qualifications you need to get there. Do some work experience to find out if you like it or not. Most importantly, find something you're interested in - not just something with a good paycheck.