Sunday 22nd June 2014

My post yesterday got me thinking out the pressure uni/friends/parents/strangers can put on us to make decisions about life.  This in turn can lead to us questioning what is the purpose or meaning of life? Possibly the biggest, most ambiguous and frustrating question mankind has ever come up with and also a topic for a different day. Being at University is, in my opinion, conducive to frequent existential crisis's. Very few people tell you it's okay not to know what you want to do!

Let's think about this, most people would like to try what they think they want to do but it's often quite hard to get experience in certain areas e.g psychology. So young people are having this massive stress placed on them with few ways of combating the stress or investigating their options. Yes, some universities try their best to get placements ect but there are still some areas that are lacking (possibly with good reason e.g insurance or confidentiality). Throughout my time at University (I'm going into my third year in September) there's only two people I can remember saying "It's okay not to know what you want to do." Student's need that support, as I said yesterday I'm two years into the wrong degree for what I want to do. I was completely freaking out thinking there was nothing I could do and there was no way around it. After some logical thought and emails I figured it out. I'm not putting myself above others but I can't help feeling a lot of people would have just left it at that.

This problem comes from the fact that I was able to try one of my options but only after my degree started as the role was being offered in the local area. I was originally looking for something to get me out of the house more not specifically to help with my career options. By happy coincidence the role does both!

Part of this problem, I think, stems from the education system. Over the years are told what to do we are given information we are never told to think for ourselves. Any ounce of individuality or initiative is ,a lot of the time, challenged and disapproved of. Depending on what schools you go to, you can find yourself at Uni with no one holding your hand and you have no idea how to think for yourself or do things for yourself.

Let me tell you, if you're 10, 20, 30, 40 whatever age you might be it's okay not to know what you want to do! No one can predict the future and tell you what your circumstances will be in a weeks/months/years time. What we want to do changes on our skill set an experience and you can't make decisions based on things you don't have. My advice, not that I'm someone to take advice from, is to explore your options - try finding placements (paid/unpaid) and see if you enjoy or it not. In my opinion, there would be nothing worse than having to do a job you hated.

It's your life, we only get one so you might as well do something you love and be happy.

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”- John Lennon