This article was published for My Event Bucket back in June 2014, but unfortunately the site is no longer running, so I thought I’d publish it on my own personal blog 🙂
Having just completed a degree in Fashion Media and Promotion, and graduating alongside my peers that I have grown up with in the many schools I have been to around the country, my mind can’t help but wander onto the dreaded subject….was paying £9K (and that’s only the course fees) worth it?
Here is a Facebook status that one of my friends has recently written about her time at Uni…
“Learnt more from my self-taught brother who never went to uni than I ever have done in these past 2 years. And who’s the one who’s stressed out and in even more debt… Already knew this but decided not to listen to myself. Lesson officially learnt (by myself). God damn”
Now there will be many students reading this article thinking ‘£9K? Yeah that would be nice!’ As the fees of going to university have doubled and tripled, many youngsters find it almost impossible to afford moving away from home and studying the degree of their dreams. It seems to be either the incredibly rich or the stupidly poor who are able to go- which leaves a large proportion of the United Kingdom that is forced into the world of work much earlier than anticipated.
It seems that increasingly more and more are going to work, having a family and settling down, then studying a degree once they’ve got some of their own disposable income. Especially, I find, in the Arts.
It could be argued that a degree in a creative subject such as fashion and media can’t be taught in a traditional lecture theatre like science or maths. However, having written a dissertation on Post-Marxist theories from a Postmodern perspective in Fashion Photography (I know-a mouthful) I can very much guarantee that the left half of my brain has been used significantly as well as my right side in the entire 3 years of my varied yet complex degree.
There are elements of fashion theory that are not as accessible when learning ‘on-the-job’, and most companies won’t even hire you without any relevant experience in the industry. I did a placement in my second year with a Vegan Shoe company creating comical fashion films, and having an institution behind me was a great aid in finding a suitable 3 months placement. Having said that, I must have sent around 100 emails to magazines, trend companies, fashion labels, etc. and only received around 30 replies, most of them being no. I honestly don’t know how I would have managed finding a placement without being swamped in the cocoon of my degree.
I know many creative individuals who have succeeded in their particular medium without the assistance of a degree, they’ve left school/college and gone freelance or started working for their dream company. There are companies and charities dedicated to helping young people start up their own businesses if they find themselves with no job and in financial difficulty, for example the Princess Trust. Then there are always banks and building societies to get loans from, and hopefully pay off the debt if your business takes off the ground.
With something like fashion design, there are usually a lot of internship opportunities within London Design companies or fashion houses, but that means you either have to live in London to begin with, or commute every day for little to no pay. And there’s not always a definite possibility of a job at the end of the tunnel. With fashion communication, it is even harder to get in without knowing someone who’s already got their foot in the door, or just simply being ‘in the right place the right time’.
I find that whether you continuing studying- in fashion or otherwise- or go straight into an apprenticeship or job out of school, there are always risks, and there will always be disappointments and obstacles in your way of achieving your dream job. Finally, the worst part of it all, whether it’s to the student loans company or to a bank, there will nearly always be a large amount of debt. I just hope that I can be lucky enough to get a job that enables me to pay off my loans and grants before I reach the age of retirement.
Watch this space.
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