When I first went to university I was nervous. I had just turned 18 and finished sixth year at school. I went to study a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance despite having never studied it in school. I didn’t know anyone on my course. Luckily it turns out the Strathclyde Union puts on events to meet new students before you even start your course so I got the chance to meet a couple of people before beginning, even one who supported the same football team as me. This turned my experience into an opportunity to make new friends rather than feeling like I was losing old friends, who I still saw outside university. First year of the course was aimed at everyone on the same level, not just people who had already studied the subject in school. This meant I was able to quickly catch up and didn’t feel left behind.
I got the chance to study some economics and politics in first year alongside my main degree and was actually able to change major to economics with accounting, writing a dissertation on the economics of Scottish football (A dissertation is your main research project on a related topic of your choice in your fourth year). When I first applied to uni I never expected that I would enjoy writing an essay so much!
Outside of classes I started writing for the uni’s newspaper, the Strathclyde Telegraph, music section, which got me on the guest list for some amazing gigs and gave me the chance to interview a few musicians, including The Vaccines when they played a pub basement. My friend Scott and I created a show for the university radio station Strathclyde Fusion, called ‘How Did We Get on the Radio?’ It was a lot of fun presenting the show and it still remains a good question!
During the third year of my course I was encouraged to apply for an internship over the summer holidays. Luckily I was able to get one with the investment bank Morgan Stanley where I worked for three months. After my internship I was offered a graduate job at the end of fourth year. Doing an internship is a great way to take the stress off your final year if you’re fortunate enough to be offered a job. When I left uni I went to work in Morgan Stanley full time. This made up the next three years of my life, before I decided to make a bold change. I had learned a lot working in the bank but I was still passionate about making music and thought that studying music business at college would be the best way for me to work on this. I also wanted to learn to play guitar and to produce my own music.
When I first went to college I was nervous. I had just turned 26 and had been working in a bank since I left uni four years ago. I went to study an HND in music business even though I had never studied music. It’s not as common to go to college after going to uni, but I found there’s no reason you shouldn’t do it that way round. I loved studying music business and met some brilliant tutors in college with real life experience in the industry, even one who had a number one single in the 80’s! The course taught me how to release music and I was able to self-release two singles as a singer songwriter and claim royalties professionally for them. I was able to do this as my graded unit, where I produced a folder of work and research based on a project I completed throughout the year.
College was a totally different experience to uni and gave me the chance to see the best of both. Uni gives you a lot of independence and time to yourself whereas college gives you more time with your tutors in class. We also had class wide projects like putting on gigs at the Oran Mor. In uni I was in a few hours a day across the week whilst in college I had classes 2 and a half days a week.
At the end of college I joined Widening Access as a mentor and continued to work from home for a data analysis company. Some of my friends articulated into university. This meant they were able to progress from second year of college straight into third year at a linked university, which is a brilliant way to get into uni and every bit as valid as joining in first year.
I would say that there is no better option between college and uni, I loved both. It comes down to individual preference. Getting involved with activities and clubs outside of my classes meant I had a brilliant time in higher education. That looks like it’s going to get even better at Strathclyde with the new Student Union being built!