College or university what route should I take ? 

Nearly ten years ago I was faced with the decision . Do I stay on at school and do my A levels then go to university or do I go straight to college .

At such a young age you have to make sure a huge discussion something that could potentially impact the rest of your life . It was a decision I didn’t find easy to make. I was really torn with what to do and what would be best for me . I had lots of people expressing their options to me and I just didn’t know what to do for the best . I knew what I wanted to do and that was work with children but how I got to that I really didn’t know .

I remember my teachers being quite pushy telling me university was the way forward . That I needed to go and get a degree to get anywhere in life . How wrong they were !

I made the decision and stopped on at school and started my AS levels . Within a few weeks I knew I had made the wrong decision . I didn’t really enjoy any of the lessons I was doing and was made to pick subjects as they fitted into the school timetable .

So after wasting a year of my life bunking of six form ( sorry Mom ) and having my mom chirping down my ear I told you so . I decided to enroll at college . This was the right decision for me and the right path to take . Some careers you need to go to university for but for me to work with children it wasn’t essential.

I did really well at college if I do say so myself and came out with a triple distinction for my BTEC in early years . Now came the hard part finding a job ! . Even though again I was pressured into going to university from my college tutors I didn’t break this time and did what I wanted to do .

I must have applied for 50 jobs at least all giving me the same response . ” needs more paid experience!!” . As I was just about to give up I signed up to an agency . I was a bit apprehensive at first but it really was such a great experience . For the year I worked with the agency I worked in so many different roles from early years to teaching support . It really helped me to draw a clear picture of what direction I wanted to take my career in.

After having a year with the agency I landed my first proper contracted job to which I still work for the company now . With a lot of hard work and ambition I went from a nursery practitioner to a nursery manager in 3 years . Now I’m not saying that will be the same for everyone I’m just saying you can get to the higher positions without going to university first .

I have since gone to university and graduated with a foundation degree . I was able to work and earn money along side getting an education . This worked so well for me and I’m so glad I did it this way .

What I’m trying to say with all the rambling above is you need to do what you want to do . Not what others think you should do . You can do university later in life and still smash it. I have so there is no reason you can’t !