University

University life. What can you say about it? I thought I would shift my thoughts away from Psychology and focus more on something different. Nowadays, the thought of going to University and actually graduating can seem more daunting, partially because of the economy. The rest may be due to various factors relating to social, economical and personal issues. Whatever the reasons, no doubt, going to university is a big step forward to learn something new or develop on something that you are interested in, through an academic and intellectual manner. Now, some people will scoff at the idea that university is as impeachable as one may think it out to be, because so many of us were taught that university was the way to go but in reality, it's a slippery slope. Do you really want to go to study something that can be done by reading books and discovering the facts along your life or is that important to you? Example: you enjoy history and want to pursue it further, would you attend Higher Education to obtain a degree in History or could you suffice learning History from quality books? In terms of vocational relevance, there doesn't seem to be a linear pathway.

To discuss this further, I am currently finishing off my BSc in Psychology and have learned so much from it. However, Psychology is vocationally relevant for the fact that you can become a Psychologist; a professional in the field of human mind and behavior. You also have the option to take a different career path if you don't want to become a Psychologist, hey it's your call. People have gone in to sales and marketing, administration or further research, the list is pretty much endless. What my intention was in this post, was to explore some of my experiences of academic life, it's challenges and highlights. Maybe by discussing these issues, other people can become more aware of the implications of higher education and how to better cope with the demands it brings. While I will post further posts on this subject, let me briefly go over a few things:

• Always make sure you know why you are applying to University, not everyone can come up with a logical reason other than they are interested in what they intend to do.
• Talk. This is crucial. You need the advice of teachers, family and friends to see if they know anything about your intended career path. You never how many people can offer useful insights to the subject.
• Research possible career paths. I know very few people truly know what they want to before they even start the road to University, but researching is absolutely worth it.  
• Once you start University, think about possible work experience you could gain, regardless of how crummy it may seem, in this day and age, it's worth it, you will have something to put down in that empty C.V. of yours.

Now all of this may seem common sense, but seriously, not everyone gets down to actually doing it, myself included. 

While I've skimmed over the basic points, I will try to in future posts, to go more in depth of academic life, much like taking each layer off a cake. Please share your thoughts and views below, I will learn something too.Till then, see ya!