Why I'm Glad I Didn't Go To University

Yup, I'm glad I didn't go to university. Do I regret not going to university? Nope. I knew from at least age 17 that I didn't want to go to university, for a few reasons.

I remember being in school and people in my class would get phone calls from their university to arrange an interview with their uni admissions and they would be jumping up and down, screaming with excitement and I was sat there thinking, huh? I never got the excitement about going to uni, in fact I hoped I didn't get the phone call. I did get all the offers I'd applied for and got the grades but I knew straight away it was something I wasn't interested in.

*Just a quick disclaimer, this isn't an 'anti-university' post and I'm not trying to discourage you from going to uni, but if you're asking yourself 'should I go to university?' or 'is university right for me?', then hopefully this will help you out.*

One of the main reasons I didn't want to go to uni was because I didn't want a job that required a degree. If you do want a job that you need a degree for, then GO TO UNI! It's essential to go to a college or university if you want to work in a field that you need a degree for, it makes sense to go. However, because I knew I didn't want a job that required a degree, I knew I'd save myself a lot of money, time and happiness by not going.

If you don't need a degree but still want to go to uni to learn and get more education, then of course it's perfectly fine to go, but if you really don't want to go then there are so many other routes you can go down to get your dream job and dream life.

I knew from a young age that I wanted a job in the creative field, Yes, I'm one of those 'creative' types who took music and art at school and have played piano since I was 6 years old. Being able to express myself creatively is the main way I get happiness in life so I knew it was essential to pursue a career in that field. Fun fact: not a lot of creative jobs require a degree. With regards to jobs in the creative industries, it's almost always about the experience you have rather than the education you have. Most employers in the music or artistic scene will ask for your portfolio and see how talented you are, not what qualification you gained from a certain university.

Again, if you are in the creative industry and you want to purse further education by going to university, then by all means do it! Do what is right for you, not what everyone else is telling you to do. There are so many opportunities and career routes that don't involve going to university so don't feel disheartened if it's not for you or you didn't get into uni.

Examples of other routes instead of uni are:

• Getting an apprenticeship

• Getting a job and working your way up the career ladder

• Start freelancing

• Starting your own business

• Online classes/degrees

There are so many great online classes you can take to teach yourself the skills to start your own business or get training in an area you're passionate about. I've made a list of some of the best online courses I've found.

Online Classes:

• Creative Live - Creative Live provide creative classes in photography, music, art and design, money and lots more. If you fancy yourself as a creative entrepreneur or want to get a job in the creative field, then they'll have something suited for you. Check out their classes here

• BRIT + CO - Brit + Co are full of creative classes and courses that can educate you on subjects such as photography, business and design. They're super fun and colourful so if you're a creative type then you won't be disappointed. Check them out here

• Master Class - If you've ever wanted to be taught by the best players in the game, then this is the place for you. They have classes taught by highly skilled people such as Christina Aguilera for singing, Gordon Ramsey for cooking, Martin Scorsese for filmmaking, Deadmau5 for music production and so many more amazing teachers. Who wouldn't want to be taught by Hans Zimmer or Dustin Hoffman? Check out their range of classes here

For the people who say, 'Go to uni for the experience' or 'It'll be loads of fun because you get to live with friends and go out all the time,' you can do those things without getting in a ton of debt. If you're only go to uni for the 'uni life' and partying, then you seriously need to reassess why you're going. I really didn't care about the partying and going out all the time, that's not my thing, so I haven't missed out on anything from that point of view. You can still have plenty of amazing life experiences without going to uni.

Another big reason for not going to university is that I don't get motivated by grades on a page. Studying at school, for me, was just memorising thousands and thousands of words to write out on an exam and forget it the next day and it was not an environment I was motivated to excel in. Maybe that's just because I'm a creative person and I thrive when I'm creating any form of art, but I knew I would hugely be lacking in motivation if I went to uni because a mark on a paper doesn't motivate me at all.

I will more than likely be self employed or employed in a career based only experience so it made sense for me to follow my own path instead of going to uni. I wasn't 100% sure of what I wanted to do when I was 17 and instead of making a life changing decision at that age and taking on a lot of debt and potentially dropping out, I took some time to work on a few different things and find my niche.

Also you can go to university at any age. If I one day decided that I would like to go back to get some more education then that's always an option! Just don't feel like you're tied into one route and you can't explore your interests.

So that's why I'm glad I didn't go to university and if you're feeling a bit undecided about going to uni then I hope this helped you out. If you need anymore advice don't be afraid to ask me a question in the comments below. Emily x