I have learned there are many paths

IT’S only about one month until I hand in my last assignment and finally finish my bachelor degree at Monash University.

It feels like only yesterday that I was in year 12 studying every day for VCE and desperate to get into university with a high ATAR score.

Although I’ve loved my bachelor degree over the past three years, I can’t help but think that there was always pressure on myself and my peers to get a university spot.

During high school, university was usually regarded highly, while TAFE and trade programs were looked down on and surrounded with stigma.

A lot of my high school classmates were called stupid by their peers for wanting to become a tradie or a hairdresser.

And the stigma didn’t only come from fellow students.

Teachers, parents and even career advisers would often disregard and overlook apprenticeships and encourage a degree instead. I don’t know where this bad reputation for TAFE came from, but it’s absolutely ridiculous for some people to suggest that it is a reflection of lower intelligence. TAFE and vocational education leads to secure, well paid and meaningful work for so many school leavers and it has little to do with how intelligent or ambitious they are. Trades are an excellent option and they’re as valid and rewarding as a degree. While universities continue to churn out more graduates than ever before, many of these students don’t even find a job with their degree — or they work in something completely different to what they originally studied.

So many high school students are still being brainwashed into thinking that university is the only pathway to success.

I’m not saying that one option is better or worse than the other, but students should be able to pursue what they want without all of these pressures and expectations.

So, for any students reading this, just know that your career plans are just as valid as your peers.

Don’t let anyone’s negative, elitist attitudes push you into studying something that you don’t want to.