The Pros and Cons of University | by Tamarah Asassa

When I was at school, it felt like university was the only option available to me in order to progress. I graduated in 2021 and started working later that year. Since starting my apprenticeship, I have learnt so much about digital marketing as a career and a lot of practical skills rather than pure theory. Here is my list of pros and cons of going to university based on what my experience has taught me.

Pros of University

• Enjoying further learning: I did a History and Politics degree at university and luckily with my course, I had a big range of modules to choose from. I learnt a lot of new topics that I had never even heard of before.  If you enjoy academic learning, then university can be a valuable experience to explore niche topics.
• Building new skills in societies: One thing I really enjoyed about university life was the societies. I definitely made sure that I joined a few and gained some important skills. One that I will never forget was the university student radio society. I learnt all about producing and hosting radio shows and even had my own daytime radio show in my third year where I got to discuss whatever I wanted and play my favourite songs. It was the perfect opportunity to try something new.
• Social life: The uni social life is something everyone knows about and is a period of life where you can generally be quite carefree while doing your work and creating fun experiences. Similar to the point above when joining societies, you meet a lot of like-minded people and can make some friends for life.

Cons of University

• Debt vs being paid: University debt is still something that should be considered. It is beneficial that you only start paying it off once earning over a certain amount but Learning on the job through an apprenticeship and getting paid whilst doing so is a really great opportunity that should be considered alongside going to university rather than as something to do just because a person is not going to university.
• Not getting the same on-the-job experience: One thing that has stood out to me since I started working is how much I am learning by doing rather than reading. Gaining valuable Excel and data analysis skills has allowed me to come into my own at work. I also feel like I can progress at my own pace rather than following the 3-year course progression. 

Obviously, anyone wanting to follow a career path that might need a degree (e.g. a doctor) will be getting that work experience through practicals and placements. However, while I was doing my humanities degree, I found that I did not get experience in the field that I wanted, which led me to pursue the digital marketing apprenticeship (which is something I am very much grateful for).

Now, this isn’t to say that one option is better than the other as I believe that both university and apprenticeships have their merits and can offer different experiences to people who want to follow different life paths. Reflecting back, I know I would have definitely considered an apprenticeship if I had been presented with all the different options at 18.

Tamarah Asassa is a Digital Marketing Apprentice at Future and is writing for the Apprentice Lens as part of the Blogging Team. Here is a little more about her:

‘I am excited to practise my writing skills and hopefully help people by sharing my own personal experiences. I like finding solutions to any problems and I’m happy to have a space to share that.’