I remember getting into my last few years of high school and beginning to feel this strange building pressure. Suddenly we had appointments with careers advisors, classes on how to apply for university, tips on university interviews, the list goes on. I realised quite early on that school definitely emphasised the pathway of going to university. But what other options were out there? I began to think I may not even want to go to university. I had subjects that I liked ,them being geography and art but what could I do with these and what career would these lead to? I took myself along to my schools career advisor for more information… She chatted through my options- ‘with my grades I could definitely get into university’…. There it was again …university…. That word. I sat politely and listened.

I began to think about why it was that I was unsure of university – was it because I had no clue what I even wanted to study or was it something deeper – the fear of not being good enough? Being totally honest with myself it was definitely the latter. I was scared that I wasn’t good enough, that I wouldn’t cope with academic life and lastly I was scared of failure. Not long after I had a good chat with my mum and she asked me the best question – she asked

“what makes you happy and what do you love doing at school?”

It didn’t take me long to answer it was and always had been art. After that I felt much more happier and content… I decided I did want to go to university and to go and study Art and Design. Now it wasn’t an easy process – I had to come up with a portfolio of work, go to interviews etc. Pretty early on I decided I had my heart set of the Edinburgh College of art. Their course was exactly what I was looking for – plus I could stay living at home(at 17 I didn’t quite feel ready to move out) After submitting my 5 applications to my chosen universities I waited and waited. One afternoon I heard the ping of an email alert. I raced to open my email and anxiously clicked open.

It was from the Edinburgh college of art and written in bold was Unsuccessful. I hadn’t got it. I was for a better word devastated (sorry to be so dramatic) but when you plan and dream up what your life might look like at this university its sad when you realise that dream is over. I had a good week of crying and wallowing , with my mum taking me out for hot chocolates to cheer me up(thanks mum) before I finally picked myself up. Not long after I got another email this time it was good news! I had been offered an unconditional offer to another university. It was not my first choice and probably being honest not my second. But I had hope that this was meant to be.

And now looking back I can say it definitely was – this university was much smaller. It meant I really got to know my classmates and got more hands on help from lecturers. It turned out to be pretty perfect for me. I guess my story shows that even though you might not get into the college or university you wanted, something even better might be waiting right around the corner