Many a time I have asked myself: is university the place for me?
I know it may seem a silly question, coming from someone who claims to love academia with all their heart, but when you start to struggle with the thing you thought you'd love, you start questioning all your decisions. I even thought about dropping out in my first year.
Thanks to these first years of struggle I've learnt quite a few things about university and what it asks of a student:
- University is hard. It is, no matter what anyone say. However, this doesn't mean you can't graduate from university unless you're some kind of genius. In fact, lots of people who are not geniuses graduate from university every year. University is not so much about being brilliant, as it is about being hard working, consistent, and liking what you do, at least to some extent.
- That last point brings us to the next one: some people say that you need to study for whatever it is you're passionate about, but I don't think that's true. I study medicine, a degree in which you always hear "I've wanted to be a doctor since I was 3", but that's not my case. Here are my reasons for wanting to become a doctor:
- I've always liked biology, I've always liked human beings, and medicine is a degree that combines both.
- I've always liked science, but I hate maths, and medicine is a branch that doesn't ask for a wide knowledge in mathematics.
- Medicine offers stability. I live in Spain, a country in which the working situation is dire to say the least. When you finish your medical degree in Spain, you're supposed to take an exam in order to get a residency in a hospital of your choosing. Once you get your placement, you get paid for 3-5 years to work for the public health system, and at the end of those years, you become a certified specialist.
- Everyone needs doctors. That means that after my placement years finish, I'll most probably find a work in any country I go to. The security this profession offers when it comes to getting a job was a big reason for me to choose it.
- If you're independent, you can live the life you want, however you want. And who doesn't like that?
- That is to say: my reasons for studying medicine weren't emotional ones, and you shouldn't worry if your reasons for studying a certain degree aren't emotional, either. What I feel passionate about, is literature. Art, cinema. Writing. That's what gets me all excited and turns me into a fangirling mess. I still love medicine, I still love what I study, but it's not my passion.
- If you're lucky enough to work in that which you love, then I have nothing to say except congratulations! However, not everyone is that lucky, and "finding your passion" is advice that can awake a bit of anxiety in lots of people. This video by Thomas Frank from College Info Geek talks more thoroughly about this topic.
- University is for everyone. Which means that anyone can come to university and succeed. It doesn't mean, however, that everyone who wants to be something in life needs to come to university. If you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a biologist, a film specialist, a teacher... you will most probably need to achieve that through university. However, you don't need university to become an entrepreneur, a cook, a hairdresser, a personal trainer, a make up artist, a dancer, an actor... There are other ways of becoming something in life, and not all of those require a university degree.
- All options are equally valid. Did you want to study in university, but then when you were at it, realized it wasn't for you? Cool. Did you want to start working because you were tired of studying after high-school, but know want to go into university years after that? Super cool. Did you want to study at university and achieved it? Did you want to work without being a graduate and still feel pretty content with your decision? Super duper cool. See? As long as you're happy with the decisions you've made, it's ok.
- You don't need to have everything figured out by the time you're 18-20. You can question yourself, you can regret your decisions, you can change your mind half along the way. There's not a wrong way of walking the path to that point in your life in which you'll feel at peace with your situation. Lots of uni student switch grades because they realize they didn't like whatever it was they were doing. Lots of uni students drop out. It doesn't matter, it shouldn't matter to anyone but themselves. Your life, is yours, and you are the only one who can choose which is the best for you.
- Be curious. If you're interested in a certain degree, ask people who are taking it how it is. Go to Open Days and go visit the universities you're interested in, talk to professionals that sought the same path and ask them how it was. The more information you get, the easier it will be making a decision.
- Don't be afraid. If you change your mind along the way, it's ok. Lots of people do it, and as long as you think you're walking towards the place you want to be in, it doesn't matter how long it takes, the only thing that matters is that you get there.
- You are the only one who can decide if a higher education is what you truly want. However, you have to keep in mind that just as anything else in life, you won't like everything you learn at university. You will have to deal with mean professors and classmates, with boring lectures and stupid practices, but then you will also meet some of the best people you ever come across, and you will work with some of the most intelligent and gentle educators you will ever have the pleasure to listen to. It's a balance, just as anything else in life.
Well, I hope this insight into my mental process for choosing university and the things I've come to know along the three years I've been studying there has helped any of you to calm a bit of that anxiety that comes with big decision-making. If you have any other inquiries or want to know more, drop me an e-mail here or comment below!
