Go Again?

You can tell how old someone is mentally when you ask them to make a decision based on an impulse and measure the hesitation that follows. When I was 18 years old I thought nothing of applying to University in London whilst living here in Northern Ireland. The distance wasn't a factor in the decision making process at all. In fact the choice of University was at first random, there were 6 places to fill on the University application form known as a UCAS form, I had filled 4 places with the Universities I thought I would choose from, and filled the final two places with Universities that looked interesting but were ultimately chosen at random.

It wasn't until after I was invited to an open day, and received an offer that I actually considered the possibility of living in London with any serious weight. If you asked me to do the same thing now as a 35 year old - approaching 36 in a few weeks, the hesitation is incalculable. It's not just a hypothetical idea either for me now, it's a realistic possibility. Here in the UK there are a growing number of Degree Apprenticeship programmes, these have no age limit and work on the basis of applying for a job to an employer, if accepted you work at a discount whilst also studying for a degree alongside your job, at the end of the first 3 or 4 years you are then awarded a Degree. Essentially this is the equivalent of an employer sponsoring your degree.

The thought of studying for a second degree was something that has been on my mind for some time, the main opposition had always been finance as student finance the main source of funding for students in the UK only provides finance for your first Undergraduate degree, not for subsequent degrees. This approaching programme solves that issue. I've been exploring the options that are open to me and the potential career changes that I could make.

At 18 when I chose my first degree in Computer Science with Games Technology there were a lot of motivating factors but first and foremost was simply a continuation of my education, with the same specialisation that I had been studying at college. I went from a BTEC National Diploma in Computing to a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science this seemed like the most logical step forward. As with the notion of moving across the country however, little thought was given to what might happen after. That's not at all surprising really, it seems asinine now to look back and expect an 18 year old to know what they want to do with their life, approaching 36 now twice that age I still don't know what I want to do with my life, all I know is that the status quo isn't making me happy.

Ask me to make a decision now though and all the other factors in my life, such as my recent health problems, my family and social connections and support network, and relocation as most of these programmes are not based in Northern Ireland, all play a part in influencing my decision.

Is it better to make an informed decision, considering every aspect and every perspective, or is it better to act on impulse? I sometimes wonder what choice I would have made at 18 if I had the emotional intelligence, and life experience I have now, if my present hesitance is anything to go by then I might not have made any decision at all - but at the same time I can look at my first degree and say with confidence that although the qualification itself realistically isn't worth the paper it was printed on, the life experience I gained from those 3 years of my life was invaluable, and the price of my degree one could argue was simply the cost of living in London for 3 years.

I do stand by the statement however harsh it may seem that the degree was not worth it, for the simple reason that it did not deliver the competitive advantage that was promised, and the financial crash coinciding with my graduation meant I graduated into an employment market that was not favourable to anyone never mind your graduate status. In many ways I do believe my generation was mis-sold our education, even the content of the degree itself was largely of little application. The most useful elements, those that had practical application, were all elements I had already studied at College as part of my diploma. The less useful elements revolved around theory, and research; I vividly recall Software Engineering lectures with Software Development Life Cycles that even as students we already knew that companies didn't actually follow those models when developing software.

Mid way through my degree I was supposed to take a year to complete a placement in my chosen industry but throughout the 6 months that led up to that year approaching more employers than I can recall, time and again the response from the Games Industry was largely cut and paste to the effect of "We don't care about your education we need a portfolio" which was the point at which I genuinely considered dropping out of University. As the Easter holidays of my second year approached I considered booking a one way flight home and not going back such was the disheartened state I had reached. I was studying a degree that was never going to give me what I had wanted from it - employment opportunity and a competitive advantage.

Degree apprenticeships in contrast seem to be the reversal of this concept, instead of getting a degree to get a job, you get a job to get a degree. The question is which industry do you want to work in? What subject matter will you study and where are the employers based that are offering these apprenticeships. I've seen a number in Manchester which seems the most viable considering the extortionate cost of living in London - the average rent for a studio apartment in London is 3 times that of Manchester.

The other most pressing factor is longevity, both in terms of the potential career that the degree may offer, and of myself at 36 if I study for 3 years I would graduate at 39 - almost 20 years later than my original vision for University had been, can I still achieve within a realistic time-frame, what I had hoped to achieve by now the first time around or has that ship sailed?

The question does feel a lot like asking if you want to reboot your life, to essentially write off the last 18 years and start over, but do I have the energy, physically, mentally and emotionally to try again?