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uni rant, opinions welcomed..
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I can always remember thinking of University as being this place I'd never get
to. Uni was for the clever people, I'd have to look on and admire then for
getting the opportunity. But over the last few years, I've worked hard. And
y'know what? I think I'm probably clever enough to go to university. In fact,
sometimes this makes me proud. But now I see that anyone can go to university.
I've done remarkably well with my studies. However the courses I am applying
for set the bar very low for entry. I've passed my course at a High Level
despite being surrounded by people who have barely done a piece of work in two
years. Yet EVERY SINGLE ONE of them is heading to higher education in the
pursuit of……. What? I don't know.
The government want everybody to go to university. And in their droves they are
going. Soon we'll have millions of carbon copy graduates. People in their early
to mid-twenties without work experience, but a nice little 'I have a degree'
part to add to their CV's. What's worse is when I ask for advice on working I'm
told that I'm being silly. If you don't go to university you'll get nowhere!!
So I can leave now and go and work, but I'll never get good work because
snobbish employers only want people with degrees, OR I can force myself to go
to university, force my young self into THOUSANDS of pounds worth of debt;
having only my little degree to show for it. Because now a degree is nothing.
They're all getting them. Soon we'll all be downloading them from the net
without paying our fees as a backlash to the ridiculous thing that is
University.
I want to work in the Media industry. Specifically, I want to work in Film
Production. I'm under no illusions that I'm going to direct Hollywood
blockbusters any time soon. But I'm confident in myself, I have determination.
I have a lot to give. But what, I have to go to university for three years
instead of getting work experience? I'm often told 'you'll get to be a runner
but that's it. Anything after that they'll take on graduates'. Umm, okay.. WHY?
Why does a little piece of paper that says you got drunk in a student bar every
night and copy and pasted essays off the BBC mean that you're the most suitable
for the job? Surely to be a good camera operator, or assistant director, it's
more about you as a person. Your experience. Your experiences. You.
From what I can see, we're going to become a young culture of institutionalised
sheep who, in our twenties will be in debt and not really sure how to operate
outside a classroom. I want to work in film, so should I go to university and
read up all day every day on some random artsy Austrian director from the
1950's whilst meanwhile making films and trying my best to be just like
Tarantino? Because that's what they do at uni. Trust me. Personally, I'd rather
something real. I'd rather work. I'd rather go out there and carve things out
of nothing, because university is sounding like a big con. Sure they can sell
it to us by saying 'you'll have independence, and have parties, and you'll be
so much cleverer!'. I'm thinking that if we're articulate enough then we won't
need university to have independence? Shit, I learn more from three minute
records than I do from textbooks.
It's all about fear at the end of the day. It's the voice in me that fears if I
don't go to university I'll never make any money. "graduates, on average, earn
10zillion pounds a year says Tony Blair Magazine"-or something. In reality,
what we're seeing are a bunch of graduates sitting around eating bacon all day
and watching Trisha. Being a graduate won't teach you how to get on in the
world, it won't teach you how to be yourself. Hell, it won't teach you to be
independent, if anything it'll teach you to sheepishly go to university because
you'll feel inadequate if you don't- there'll be a voice saying 'what are you
doing, everyone goes to university! You must'.
My brother doesn't have a degree. My brother has a great job though, great
quality of life. And great money. At the end of the day he knows how to be
himself, he knows how to work. He also knows how to enjoy himself. He is now
the age of your average graduate; and dare I say his future is looking more
rosy than most of them. His CV towers above them with an impressive range of
jobs, clearly showing his growth as a worker, a person, and as a learner. Yes,
a learner. No, he doesn't have a degree, or a huge debt (although he does
try…), but he's learned arguably far more from work, people and life than the
millions of students piling into university every year.
In conclusion I feel that university won't make or break you. Some people, like
my brother and many others of that ilk, don't need a piece of paper to carry
them. They are people who will make it in the world because of who they are.
It's about working-hard, being true to yourself and living your life. Sure, if
you want to be a doctor, go to university. But as for the rest of us, why not
get a placement in Canada working in a shop? Or go to Africa and help the less
fortunate. Or go and be a runner of a film set simply because it's EXCITING and
could allow you to meet so many amazing people. Or you could work your
part-time Mcdonalds job for a bit longer, save up, then travel the world and do
something different. Sound good? Okay okay.. how about this one! I've got the
perfect one! Ready? Lose £12000 to a bunch of strangers who will allow you to
sit in lecture rooms and teach you how to do all the things you'll learn when
you go to work. It's called work-delay (or higher education). It's a way of
STALLING us. Making us pay, THOUSANDS. What's the point?
The universities I applied for sure do look nice. And yeah, I even get a little
place to stay. But my interest I can do myself. I have a DV camera, I have
editing capabilities. I can meet people. I can work on film sets. Do I really
need to wait three years and give it to people who are feeding my fear of being
inadequate in the real world?
Sit down and ask yourself, really ask yourself, why would you want to go
university?
to. Uni was for the clever people, I'd have to look on and admire then for
getting the opportunity. But over the last few years, I've worked hard. And
y'know what? I think I'm probably clever enough to go to university. In fact,
sometimes this makes me proud. But now I see that anyone can go to university.
I've done remarkably well with my studies. However the courses I am applying
for set the bar very low for entry. I've passed my course at a High Level
despite being surrounded by people who have barely done a piece of work in two
years. Yet EVERY SINGLE ONE of them is heading to higher education in the
pursuit of……. What? I don't know.
The government want everybody to go to university. And in their droves they are
going. Soon we'll have millions of carbon copy graduates. People in their early
to mid-twenties without work experience, but a nice little 'I have a degree'
part to add to their CV's. What's worse is when I ask for advice on working I'm
told that I'm being silly. If you don't go to university you'll get nowhere!!
So I can leave now and go and work, but I'll never get good work because
snobbish employers only want people with degrees, OR I can force myself to go
to university, force my young self into THOUSANDS of pounds worth of debt;
having only my little degree to show for it. Because now a degree is nothing.
They're all getting them. Soon we'll all be downloading them from the net
without paying our fees as a backlash to the ridiculous thing that is
University.
I want to work in the Media industry. Specifically, I want to work in Film
Production. I'm under no illusions that I'm going to direct Hollywood
blockbusters any time soon. But I'm confident in myself, I have determination.
I have a lot to give. But what, I have to go to university for three years
instead of getting work experience? I'm often told 'you'll get to be a runner
but that's it. Anything after that they'll take on graduates'. Umm, okay.. WHY?
Why does a little piece of paper that says you got drunk in a student bar every
night and copy and pasted essays off the BBC mean that you're the most suitable
for the job? Surely to be a good camera operator, or assistant director, it's
more about you as a person. Your experience. Your experiences. You.
From what I can see, we're going to become a young culture of institutionalised
sheep who, in our twenties will be in debt and not really sure how to operate
outside a classroom. I want to work in film, so should I go to university and
read up all day every day on some random artsy Austrian director from the
1950's whilst meanwhile making films and trying my best to be just like
Tarantino? Because that's what they do at uni. Trust me. Personally, I'd rather
something real. I'd rather work. I'd rather go out there and carve things out
of nothing, because university is sounding like a big con. Sure they can sell
it to us by saying 'you'll have independence, and have parties, and you'll be
so much cleverer!'. I'm thinking that if we're articulate enough then we won't
need university to have independence? Shit, I learn more from three minute
records than I do from textbooks.
It's all about fear at the end of the day. It's the voice in me that fears if I
don't go to university I'll never make any money. "graduates, on average, earn
10zillion pounds a year says Tony Blair Magazine"-or something. In reality,
what we're seeing are a bunch of graduates sitting around eating bacon all day
and watching Trisha. Being a graduate won't teach you how to get on in the
world, it won't teach you how to be yourself. Hell, it won't teach you to be
independent, if anything it'll teach you to sheepishly go to university because
you'll feel inadequate if you don't- there'll be a voice saying 'what are you
doing, everyone goes to university! You must'.
My brother doesn't have a degree. My brother has a great job though, great
quality of life. And great money. At the end of the day he knows how to be
himself, he knows how to work. He also knows how to enjoy himself. He is now
the age of your average graduate; and dare I say his future is looking more
rosy than most of them. His CV towers above them with an impressive range of
jobs, clearly showing his growth as a worker, a person, and as a learner. Yes,
a learner. No, he doesn't have a degree, or a huge debt (although he does
try…), but he's learned arguably far more from work, people and life than the
millions of students piling into university every year.
In conclusion I feel that university won't make or break you. Some people, like
my brother and many others of that ilk, don't need a piece of paper to carry
them. They are people who will make it in the world because of who they are.
It's about working-hard, being true to yourself and living your life. Sure, if
you want to be a doctor, go to university. But as for the rest of us, why not
get a placement in Canada working in a shop? Or go to Africa and help the less
fortunate. Or go and be a runner of a film set simply because it's EXCITING and
could allow you to meet so many amazing people. Or you could work your
part-time Mcdonalds job for a bit longer, save up, then travel the world and do
something different. Sound good? Okay okay.. how about this one! I've got the
perfect one! Ready? Lose £12000 to a bunch of strangers who will allow you to
sit in lecture rooms and teach you how to do all the things you'll learn when
you go to work. It's called work-delay (or higher education). It's a way of
STALLING us. Making us pay, THOUSANDS. What's the point?
The universities I applied for sure do look nice. And yeah, I even get a little
place to stay. But my interest I can do myself. I have a DV camera, I have
editing capabilities. I can meet people. I can work on film sets. Do I really
need to wait three years and give it to people who are feeding my fear of being
inadequate in the real world?
Sit down and ask yourself, really ask yourself, why would you want to go
university?
Post edited by JustV on
0
Comments
imo, anything that puts off a full-time job is a good thing.
but in general terms, uni is about a lot more than just learning stuff. it's about growth, and change and socialising and independence. and if you're not into all that, it'a about contacts and trade secrets and 10 - 15 % discount. try and get work experience in the media and see how far you get. then try the same thing when you say you are a student at such and such a college or uni, and watch the doors fly open. lecturers know people, many of them actually work in the industry, and they can find you experience that you just wouldn't get off your own back.
i wasn't going to go to uni when i was 18, cause i didn't see the point. in fact, i only ended up there cause i couldn't find a job i liked. but i'm really, REALLY glad i went.
Uni is so much more than just an education, it's the best way of setting you up for life. You live away from home, but not for long. You live in a new city, but you still also live at home. You start a new school and make new friends, but you still see your old friends in the holiday. You take care of yourself, cook, clean, do your own washing, but your parents still expect you to bring home dirty washing at the end of each term!
It's about gaining indepedence, but with the security of still "living at home" and the financial "security" you'll never be able to get later in life.
Depends what you study.
I think its a little ignorant to assume that graduates have come out of uni with no experience of the real working world, as many of them spend time either working in paid employment while they are on their course, working through the holidays or volunteering. And often, these jobs aren't just McDonalds and the like, they are jobs relevant to their future careers that are giving them experience in the fields they are interested in and simultaneously boosting their CV.
I don't think you should be ranting at students for going to university with the belief that they will get better employment opportunities afterwards, its the employers you should be ranting at. There was a time when you could go into a job with no qualifications and "work your way up" to a high position, however now it seems in most areas there is only a certain level you can get to before they want you to have a degree. Obviously having a degree must count for something, because employers see that graduates have some skills that non-graduates must be lacking in - or they wouldn't just hunt for graduates in the fist place. It isn't even about the subject in many areas, its about transferable skills and all that, showing you have the ability to be articulate, to be highly self-motivated and focused, to be able to interact successfully with other people etc. of course many non-graduates also have these skills, but there are also a vast number that don't - from an employers perspective I guess *anyone* can leave school at 16 and get a job, however not just *anyone* can get a degree. Yes, people who've done two pieces of work in a year may still be able to get into a university these days, but its unlikely they'll be able to stay there for very long if they continue with that kind of attitude, or they'll come out with a really poor degree that isn't likely to get them anywhere anyway.
A lot of graduates have already done this sort of thing, hence the whole concept of a gap year. The sad but true fact is that in our society, doing these sorts of things may be a great personal experience, but at the end of the day they don't give you financial security, so there is only plausably so long you can do them for before the time comes when you'll need to pay bills, find somewhere to live, and to generally sustain yourself.
Ever been to Uni? Nope so your obv the perfect person to judge uni students.
Moaning about everyone having a degree? (sorry to the Media Students out there) Try doing a REAL degree! Two of the media students I live with were playing games with sweets in their lecture the other day so that they could understand what random meant. Want a challenge? Do something with your life, sign up to a science based degree if you’re so damn clever. Get a 1st in Physics and Maths or something similar then you can brag to me all day about how clever you are, as you will be.
Bopz
Do you know how competitive the film industry is? Are you actually going to try and find a viable peice of evidence that supports your theory on how useless a degree is, or just whinge about how we should all help dying people in Africa in our spare time?
I'm ignorant? No.. actually, i'm just a hypocrite. I am currently studying a degree- what you read is what I wrote in February.. although studying now I still kind of feel that way..
Sure, personal and educational expansion.. that's what it's all about, I wasn't suggesting all anybody wants to do is drink all day at uni. I don't drink.
And Bopperz, it's that what it is to be intellectual, to get a degree in Physics or Maths? In all honesty- I am definately not academic enough or naturally gifted in those areas to do substantial well. But i'm not going to feel bad about it, I like who I am and what i'm capable of- regardless of my inability to grasp mathematics beyond adding up and subtracting.
You guys don't need to be so angry and bitter towards me! I mean, I don't mind- freedom of speech and all.. but jesus. It was just an opinionated piece I wrote some time back. I'm actually a nice guy. And no, my little ramble wasn't based on loads of research, but rather- by observing the many many graduates I know who haven't been able to get to where they want to go, despite being very able and enthuastic people. People who go outside the standardised chore that is education often come out with nowhere to go. Just an observation- which can be taken or left.
Regardless; i'm going to university and studying film (theory and production). Yes you can all have a little snobbery and say 'heh, film. what a load of crap. Go study English literature'.. but i'm not really bothered by that. I have a passion for film which is what I want to follow- and i'm proud of it. With film; I think I could actively learn as much from working on my own, away from uni. But that's a throwaway comment because look, here I am, at uni. Besides, i'm beginning to see uni as a resource. A chance for me to abuse the library for it's film texts and video/dvd collection which has many rarities not on general release. Plus the obvious equipment perks of being here (even though I have good equipment at home). Uni will give me three more years of personal development- which I feel i'll garner mainly from the TIME uni gives me, not the experience of uni itself.
The rant began as a personal thing some time ago, and was perhaps wrong to paste it out to unsuspecting strangers who, naturally, with loathe what I say. Anyway, I hope you don't all hate me.
Must be getting to uni...
Dan
i agree with that.
I'm sick of people trying to make arts degree out to be useless, and trying to make arts students out to be thick. it's annoying and it's ignorant.
i could have done a science degree if i wanted. the reason i didn't isn't cause i'm too thick, it's cause it doesn't interest me in the slightest. get over it.
but yeah, dj152, calm down slightly, only a couple of the posters 'loath' you (although i noticed you'd spelt it right - ah the joys of arts degrees!). we were just giving our opinions. which happens a lot here.
Not sure if the spelling thing was directed at me..... i know i cant spell!
:cool:
Just one question though.... If you were so hell bent on uni being a bad thing, what changed your mind?
Bopz
"Just one question though.... If you were so hell bent on uni being a bad thing, what changed your mind?"
The fact that I *may* regret not going uni sometime in the future. If I fail in my chosen career, i'd like it to be with no excuses. However, if I didn't go uni then i'm not doing everything I can. <- I still feel my degree to be somewhat useless- the academic study of film isn't what it's about to me, but that's another load of ramble for another day.
Plus- I took a misguided year out after GCSE's and worked in the City.. loathed that too. I have never been one for education, but i'm sticking with it till I find something I really want to do. If only they paid you to travel the world......
yes, cause after all, a pure arts degree will make you intellectual, and let's face it, that's way better that interlectual.
Kaffrin rules.
Bopz
if you want to be a camera or sound person, then do a training course and build up a portfolio, do work experience etd etd
a media studies degree in itself is useless if you want a degree that teaches you to criticise things, do english or history or law or something
No degree is useless, because often people just want you to have a degree, to show you can study to a certain level, it doesnt even always have to be relevant to the job.
Uni is a pile of pants! At the end of the day all the government cares about is money money money and NOT education education education. IMO Toney Blair wants more ppl to go to uni so that they can get into debt, pay tuition fees (and soon top up fees). The reason why they are giving out student loans is cos they know its a clever little scam to tie these graduates down with debts and cos you cant pay them back in one lump sum you are tied to them for most of your life!
(i hope that makes sense, i got up too early today :rolleyes: )
well exactly!
and sometimes (shock horror) an arts degree can AID you in getting a job.
i wouldn't have got my job with a science degree. i applied via a graduate website, and it specified 'media or english based degrees only'.
firstly i dont want to go into media though!!!
i know a degree doesnt have to be related to job you want to do, ill probably land up in finance or something thats where most chemists go cause i dont want to be a teacher, maybe later in life though
i was saying though that doing media studies.... for the skills it teaches you, theres better degree than that, and if you really want to go into media... english degrees are statistically better as you develop more astute writing skills, debating skills(in the written form) and language techniques.
its like how useful an ICT A Level is to truly computing jobs, as a BTEC is more appropiate, but good experience tends to be the key (and you can get that experience as a hobby quite easily)
ps to the person who though i didnt know english and media studies are i the same overall area, - DUH thickhead!
Youre talking out of your arse.
Oi, i was doing that in one of my maths lectures last week, and i'm doing accountancy
What is this world coming to.......
Bopz
go to film school, do a training course, make mini films, try get work experience at a small studio here in england...
a media studies degree wont help with getting into film either, in fact university isnt really suitable for that, why dont people realise this
you know most tv presenters have english degrees, even jonothan ross does!