Views From A Graduate - Paul Olasehinde (18/05/2015)

Recently my friends and I were reminiscing about our tenure at university, as you do. However, this particular time it wasn’t about the crazy nights out or how we managed to do a 3000 word essay in one night but rather the usefulness of the whole university experience. Fortunately for us we went to university before the 9 grand tuition fees were introduced, so we ‘only’ racked up debts of around £20-25 grand, unlike the post 2012 students who are looking at that figure without even taking into account any sort of maintenance they may also have. So now I speak to my fellow graduates and ask you a simple question, was it worth it?

In general I’m happy I went to university. I met some people I consider close friends and previous friendships became stronger as we struggled through. So in that respect I don’t regret the experience. But, when I think about the real reason why I went there (to gain a degree in my chosen field which will put me higher up on the ladder than those who didn’t in order to get a JOB), I honestly think maybe I shouldn’t have bothered. Ultimately I blame this on the ‘system’. I don’t think we were given enough information about life after uni or even shown the real reality of what may happen. Maybe it’s my own fault for being naïve, but throughout my life all I’ve heard is how university will set you up for the rest of your life, how important it is to go and all the hundreds of other pro’s that come with it and I’m sure some of you can relate. However, it was not that. 

If I think back to secondary school  I quite ignorantly dismissed other routes to success that didn’t involve university as lesser. Now I’m older I see all the other pathways to success with part of me wishing someone told me then. Although the way my mind was wired, I probably still would have stuck with my ‘beloved’ uni pathway. I’m here now, 24 years of age and everything that I’m doing at this moment has not been a result of my university degree. On the other hand going to uni did teach me a lot of things which I may not have experienced until I had moved out of the family home. Paying for bills, money management, house hunting are just some the many key skills I gained by going to university which I’m very grateful for. 

If I’m totally honest, although university was somewhat a taster of real life; one experience I valued above others is what I learnt about social situations. You really do learn about yourself, the kind of people you like, those that you definitely don’t like, and how to handle possible issues that may (definitely will) arise. You are thrown into the deep end, as I’m sure for a lot of us you find yourself in a totally different area of the country, living with strangers and having to co-exist peacefully is nowhere near easy. A lot of valuable life lessons were learned through tough times and in some sense the 3-4 years you will spend is really the making of you, as my time there most definitely shaped me to be the person I am today.

I understand that there will be a few who disagree with some if not all of my points and I didn’t write this to tell people not to go university, rather its just an honest viewpoint of how I felt about the whole process. I believe everything happens for a reason no experience is useless and university wasn’t, but if I could gain the life skills (obviously minus the debt) and not study I personally would have taken that option in hindsight. University is a great place to go, and you probably wont find an experience like it elsewhere, but I reach out to those thinking they have to go, and urge you to continuously look at other avenues and make sure that if you do go, that it is the best path for you. University isn’t the be all and end all, but if you do find yourself there you won’t regret it (until you’ve only started writing that 3000 word essay at 11pm which is due the next day, and all you’ve written is the title). So to answer my own question, I think it is worth it…to a certain extent. ;)