So it has been a year since I finished university. A whole year.

Getting a degree isn't as glamorous as it's made out to be. You're told how it will start your career and put you above your peers in your chosen field. As much as that in theory is true,  you are amongst millions of other people, just like you, that have been told exactly the same.

At the age of 18 you are put in the position to make potentially one of the biggest choices of your life. It doesn't matter how much research you do, or how much you ask for others opinions, the choice in the end is yours to make. At the age of 18 you have to choose what field you want your career to be in, for your whole life. Those of you who are at university or have completed a degree will know that obviously you can change your path, but guys, we're playing around with thousands of pounds that we are borrowing, you kinda want to get it right the first time around.

When I was 18 I didn't even want to go to university. I hated education, it just didn't work for me. So why was I going to put myself through three more years, I wasn't. I wanted to just finish college, I can't remember what I had planned to do in my ideal world but I knew I was pretty adamant I wasn't going to university. My twin sister however, was the complete opposite. She had decided she wanted to go to university and had been looking through prospectuses and around universities for a while. Some how along the way of her journey, I got persuaded by my parents and teachers to look at some courses, which eventually progressed into setting up my UCAS and actually applying.

I only looked around two universities. Some think it matters, some think it doesn't. Personally I think you should look around as many universities as possible to see what they have to offer. Just remember the only reason they are there is because of you, you're the one with the money, so make sure you get the best for your money. As I originally didn't want to go, I didn't have much time to look around universities or look at a range of courses. Finding the course that is right for you is pretty hard in itself once you have made the decision to actually go. There are so many courses that are titled the same but involve a range of different things. You really have to shift through them to find what is going to work for you, what you want to learn about and what you think is actually going to help you in starting your career.


I ended up with my main choice being BA (Hons) Drama and Film at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. It was an alright university and the course sounded like it was the best for me. As much as I still love the course I did, I still feel it could have been a lot better. We had a lot of theory in both the drama and film fields which I absolutely loved learning about, however we didn't have a great amount of opportunity to put it into practice. I had to go out and make my own practical opportunities. Now if your course doesn't offer a placement, like mine, it's a very good idea to go out and get as much practice in your field as possible. It helps build up your portfolio and looks a lot better from an employers point of view as you haven't just had everything handed to your from your course. Employers also aren't particularly keen on 1st's either. I'm sure it depends on your degree but in something that is very practical, they prefer you to have a 2:1 and lots of personal experience within the field that you studied. That's a main thing you aren't told before you go to university or through your course. Obviously the university wants everyone in an ideal world to get 1st's as it looks better on them.


Another thing they don't tell you before you go to university is the amount of doubt you may have in your talent as you progress through your course. Many people drop out after the first year, some even half way through their second year. It isn't the easiest of things to go through. Especially in such a competitive field, where you have to physically show your talent. Believing in yourself is definitely something you need before you even decide to go to university, other wise it will most likely be the hardest time of your life. If you have a strong passion for the field you are studying, in time of doubt it's something to push you forward, through your last five hundred words, through your last meeting with your tutor and through your last performance.




On top of that you are in a completely new city, without your friends, without your family. We find comfort in our surroundings so when you move, even if it isn't far it takes a while to adjust. Something else you aren't told before applying to university is that if you live too close to the university you won't qualify for accommodation. I lived over an hours journey away from my university and didn't qualify for accommodation. Missing out on freshers week whilst your sister got to go to hers was probably one of the hardest things. She had moved in with people at uni and I was still living at home with my family. Freshers is one of the most important times to meet new people and make friends, so if you have the opportunity to go, do it! For any of you that end up in the same situation as me, don't worry. Things may seem hard at first as everyone has made their own friend groups without you included but as you work along side people and get the chance to experience the city you will make friends on your course and outside of it. Just hold in there. I ended up making the best friends, obviously there were fall outs along the way but in that time as cliche as it sounds I have lived with, laughed with and loved many people that I am still friends with today, even if we are in different cities.


The main heartbreaking thing about being a graduate is when you finish your course after three years and realise you haven't, as hard as you've tried, got a graduate job or a job remotely related to your course. You have no money, you're in thousands of pounds of debt and the only option you have is to move back in with your parents. As much as I love my family, moving back home has been the most difficult thing. Loosing that independence I had gained and loved for nearly three years felt like the end of everything. I left all my friends behind, yes I still had a few friends here but not many and certainly not people that I had grown with in such little time, who just know me inside and out. When they say you make friends for life at university they are so right!


Another heartbreaking thing is spending three months applying for general jobs everyday with no response. In the end I actually had to take my degree off my cv to actually get a normal job. Now that tore me up. I had spent three hard years to achieve my degree to within a few months have to remove it from my cv. By that point I sadly but honestly hated my life. Obviously there are always people worse off but when you have no form of social life and you can't even get a general job it feels like there is no point, you have no purpose. Everything I thought I had achieved in three years just came crashing down around me and I have had to start again.


I've had to learn to build my confidence back up, accept the fact that I will have bad days where I think my life is a complete mess and also learn to lie to employers. I know that sounds awful but when you know what you want to do in life and you have to apply for a "shit" job and you have to try to sell yourself and tell them why you want to work for them you can't exactly say I need a form of income...they aren't likely to employ you. Don't worry though, employers lie to you too. The amount I have been messed around by big national companies is actually shocking, which makes working a job you don't want to do even worse. All of the companies I have worked for since finishing university without fail have broken the law by not supplying contracts, not supplying payslips, not paying me and also using my holiday days without my permission.

I'm not saying I am really intelligent because I have got a degree and they haven't but there really are some idiots in charge of many places of employment these days. These are simple things that aren't hard to get right and yet they all get them wrong. For that reason I have just left my third job in a year. Bad, I know, but when you know you are a hard worker and you are just getting messed around there has to be a line. I feel that should be something taught to you in school when they are pushing you to go to university. You aren't necessarily going to get a job in your field straight away and you are going to have to deal with a lot of rubbish jobs in the mean time.


They should also teach you about student loans before they hamper on at you about going to university. We get it you want to make your school look amazing but you are actually setting many people up for failure. You aren't told that once you finish you'll be thousands of pounds in debt without a glimpse of hope of ever paying it back. The amount of interest added on each month from the date of your first loan payment gradually raises up, currently mine is at nearly £200. How on earth is anyone supposed to pay that back. They say get a good job paying over £25,000, that's all well and good but someone please tell me where they are because I certainly haven't found any in my field so far. Fair enough I should probably get on a graduate scheme first but when there are thousands of other people applying for that same graduate scheme it is pretty difficult to be picked.



Schools and colleges really need to give students an outline of what they are actually getting themselves into. "A degree looks good on your cv", not to general everyday jobs. "A degree looks good on your cv", not when millions of other people all have one. "A degree looks good on your cv", so far it doesn't.


          - Hannah