My top priority was aiming to "expand my mind."
I have my heart set on being a writer. My friend knows someone who can train me to be a dog groomer and I'm really excited as I love animals. I wanted a job with training when I left school but I had to settle for a supermarket job. I didn't know where to look other than the adverts online or in newspapers. I was told if I pulled my socks up I could be a manager in future. But then the whole bipolar rigmarole came and disrupted my life!
There seems to be a shift in attitude in todays world. Youngsters are realising that a college degree is not the only way into skilled employment. But finding an apprenticeship is extremely difficult. Sometimes you need to know the right people or the timing does not play into your hands. After I went off the rails with the bipolar, I rememeber a woman suggesting I try a temping agency for admin since I had a good qualification from school. That her daughter found a full time opportunity in doing so. I didn't feel like I was good enough. I think it was my confidence that had taken a beating. I couldn't envision myself couped up in an office. And sometimes the employment a person finds has no bearing on the degree they study.
For employers, a degree shows how committed a person is to succeed, their willingness to learn, how disciplined they are, that they can think for themselves, that they know how to construct reports and presentations, that they can work under pressure. In simplified terms. But in a competitive job market it is still very hard to secure work. I've read that many students go "back in closet" after they graduate until they are established in their careers. There other barriers to overcome.
I wasn't from a privileged background, I argued with the teachers and I wanted to avoid being on a computer all day long. That was one slice of the pie in the whole cake of reasons why I decided not to do what I was supposed to do. Fulfill my educational promise and become someone with a pretentious title. Once you unlock the creative potential inside of you, it makes no sense to back track. At 18 I knew I'd be a writer.. .. If I managed to stay alive.
Anyway. My dream is to write fiction. Maybe I will do a year of open uni and then decide to go to the college. Who knows.