There’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to your future

About a year ago I got caught up in the university whirlwind. Open days, personal statements, UCAS forms...I got on with it and began ordering in prospectus like they were the latest collection on ASOS.

After I’d shelled out a small fortune on train fares around the country, assessed which halls were the least grim and tried to get as excited as my friends, I began to feel less willing to oblige. By Christmas, I was filled with dread at the mention of university and struggled to feel excited when my choices began offering places.

A few stressed out nights on Google revealed apprenticeships. I’d been led to believe you could only do these instead of or before A Levels, not afterwards.

On one of many days spent trawling through the National Apprenticeship website I stumbled across The Juice Academy’s offering and became increasingly keen on a career in social media. I’d been blogging for years so I was no stranger to the likes of Twitter and I’ve always loved to write.

I hadn’t been that excited about my future in a long time and so I put in an application, told myself I’d never get in and put it to the back of my mind.

Fast forward a few months and I’m typing this from my new desk at Smoking Gun PR where I’m the company’s Social Media Apprentice. Who knew I’d survive bootcamp eh?

Us apprentices have something to offer employers, and in the words of my employer, “we learn from them too”.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity and still find myself wondering if it’s all real sometimes. My family was shocked that I’d spent 17 years planning on getting a degree only to drop it at the final hurdle but my Mum “couldn’t be prouder”.

So what’s the point behind my ramble? Keep an open mind, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to your future. You make the decisions and you reap the rewards!