As someone who has kind of drifted through life (career-wise) with no real direction and who has struggled with making decisions, deciding upon which career is best for me has been really difficult. Don't get me wrong, I have got more of an idea in recent years of what I want to do but deciding and sticking to one career kind of scares me. When I was at school I was always an Arty, Drama, English sort of girl and maths, well lets just say neither I liked it nor did it like me! So I suppose I always thought I'd end up doing something along those lines, but as I got older I gave less time to my loves and instead spent more time focussing on friends and what they were doing. When it comes to education, I wouldn't say I'm an academic person but then again I'm not stupid.. and I suppose I'm a bit sad that I prioritised other things in my schooling years and only put in the effort I had to, as I think my grades could have been better!
I didn't do bad in my GCSEs and following this, I stayed on at school and did my A levels in English Language, Sociology and Health and Social Care. I think when I was doing my A levels I realised I needed to put a bit more effort in (well in the second year especially, after having multiple break downs over work) and as a result I came out with quite good grades. It was at this point that I gained a real love for sociology and also writing.
University was never on my radar and throughout sixth form I remained adamant that I was not going to go to university and steered away from UCAS at all costs. However the day I received my A level results this all changed. I don't think I, nor my teachers, expected me to get the grades necessary for university so when it turned out that I had actually managed to get them, the head of sixth form kind of gave me the shove I needed and advised I looked into the possibility of uni. Not only that but I was met by the realisation that I had my A levels but had no idea what to do next. People say don't go to uni just to buy you more time.. but if I'm honest that's exactly what I did and I wouldn't say it's such a terrible thing.
When it came to choosing a course I returned back to my love for art and I researched courses in art and fashion but I failed to find a course that was right for me; I wanted to stay at home and therefore go to a uni near me, and all the courses available required A level art, which I didn't have. This highlights an issue which worries me; that the decisions you make when you are 16 can affect your opportunities in later life. Who really knows what they want to do when they are 15/16?
Anyway, after research and visiting UCS (university in Ipswich) I decided to totally switch it up and signed up for a Bsc in Criminology (where did that come from?). I mainly chose this because I found I had a real passion for sociology at sixthform and one of the modules was the sociology of crime.At multiple points in my degree I genuinely questioned whether the course was right for me and whether I should actually quit, but I didn't. I stuck it out, and now have completed my degree!
So now I am met with the same question.. what to do next? And if I'm honest I don't really know the answer but I know there are so many possibilities! I am contemplating a masters, mainly to change my career path (so, not in criminology) as I have decided that crime isn't the career I want. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that it is so easy to feel overwhelmed and to worry about what to do next. Life might seem a little muddled and as you can see from my story so far, some decisions may not be the perfect ones but it is never too late to do what you want to do! I would also say that education is never a bad decision. Yes I may not have chosen a degree which suited me the best, but it is a degree and that surely is never a bad thing! So if like me you are a bit stuck with what career is best for you, my advice would be to try everything and anything out and trust that you will find something which suits you. Don't see it as a negative but instead see it as a positive; life has ALOT to offer and you can be whatever you want to be (how cliché)
Lots of love,
Jade xx
