Lifestyle: My Education & Career Journey Part 1
I’ve mentioned previously that I was contemplating putting together a post regarding my education and career experience so far. Hopefully it will make an interesting read for any of you deciding your next steps in education or for anyone studying fashion marketing subjects. This will post will focus on my education path, with the second instalment taking a look at interning!
School
So it makes sense to start with the beginning of my journey, I had a pretty good secondary school experience, I enjoyed hanging with my friends everyday and I never found school a struggle. I got a decent set of 10 GCSE’s and life seemed good. However at that time I hadn’t really given my future too much thought, I was more interested in drinking Smirnoff ice down the park. At aged 15/16 my future career felt a million miles away (oh how time flies) and I was just sort of going with the flow. I enrolled for sixth form at the same school and picked French, English, Classics and History. Why? Who knows, they seemed interesting at the time.
It wasn’t long into my first year of sixth form I realised I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing. I was studying subjects I didn’t have an interest in (apart from French, I always enjoyed that) so again I just sort of went along with it. Naturally, around this time I started going out, having fun and my studies took a back seat. I dropped out and for the first time had little security and no idea what I was going to do next. Scary but it was without a doubt the best decision I ever made. Soon after I applied to study for a diploma in business…
College
So here I was, starting my first day at college in a topic I knew nothing about. After an initial mini strop and “I CAN’T DO THIS WHAT DOES THE WORD EQUITY EVEN MEAN” I got over it and continued. I had the time of my life at college, made some great friends and really enjoyed the course. The atmosphere and way of life was so much more suited to me than school where you’re still very much treated like a child (in my experience anyway). The course spanned many areas of business from accounting to ethics to marketing. I found marketing was a good match for me, I enjoyed the creativity. I completed two years of college with a triple distinction which gave me 360 UCAS points. I applied to various universities and gained yes’s from all of them.
University
I’ve had two very different university experiences, after my college course I moved to Sheffield to continue studying business. It wasn’t long until I realised it wasn’t for me, I didn’t enjoy living so far from home and I was starting to feel I should have followed my heart and applied for a fashion course. I decide to quit and reapply for fashion marketing. I gained a place at a University within commutable distance from Cambridge and accepted straight away. I had a fair few months between quitting and starting again which is when I started this blog! I wanted something to do with the abundance of time I had whilst job hunting, isn’t it funny how these things happen?
Cotton Wool Holder Desk Bunny – TruffleShuffle*
My course is split between the business campus and the arts campus, both with two very different atmospheres! I’ve personally enjoyed the way in which the course is split, meaning I’ve been able to learn all the relevant marketing theory but also have a creative outlet in my fashion-specific modules. Three years on and I’m almost finished, just a dissertation to complete, an exam and a presentation – PHEW!
Some advice? Do what you think is right, not what everyone else is doing or what you feel like you should do. If moving away isn’t for you, then don’t! If staying in student halls makes you want to vomit too, then don’t move to them. I wish I had thought the process through a lot more than I did but you live and learn hey.
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or tweet me, stay tuned for part two of this post where I’ll be talking all about the fashion internships I’ve undertaken which have ultimately led to my new graduate job! Again, if there’s anything you’d like me to cover just let me know! T x