The end of my apprenticeship

It’s me again! If you haven’t already, please read my previous post about why I picked being an apprentice rather than attending university.

The journey began this time last year. In early February 2015, I started my online marketing apprenticeship at Base Creative. I can’t believe it’s been a year already!

At the start of my apprenticeship I didn’t really know what to expect, I’d never worked in an environment like this before and was excited to see what kind of work I’d be doing, and start learning lots of new skills. I remember being quite nervous at first, and a little unsure, but as the weeks and months went on, I got more and more comfortable and got to know everyone working here.

Now that I’ve seen my apprenticeship through, I’m so pleased that I picked an apprenticeship instead of university. I think it has suited me down to the ground. What I’ve enjoyed the most is learning such a great variety of skills whilst being on the job. It’s never got boring, every day is different, and I’ve been able to earn money as I go along (no student loan for me!). This has helped me to have so much independence, I’ve funded my own driving lessons throughout my apprenticeship and can now drive! So when I’m not at work you’ll most likely find me whizzing about in the car!

Whilst I still believe that university definitely suits some people, I don’t think it would have suited me as much as taken this pathway has. I feel like I’ve got so much ‘life’ experience in the last year and am very used to the whole concept of working full time, which I think most people my age haven’t really experienced properly yet, so it definitely gives me a different perspective than some of my friends.

It’s still quite strange for people not to go to uni. I know that over half my friends all attend university, and good on them, but I wish apprenticeships were pushed into the limelight a bit more at schools. It’s definitely got better in the year and a half since I left school, but there’s still not enough out there. The other day on the train as I was travelling home I overheard a girl saying to her friend “If you don’t have a degree, you can’t get a job. End of”. And it just made me so mad, and sad actually, that people are under that impression. Getting a degree so isn’t the only way to progress! I hope that now I’ve finished my apprenticeship I can spend some of my free time encouraging others to, at least, do some research into apprenticeships they might be interested in, rather than thinking it’s university or nothing.

I’m so pleased that I’ve made it through the year, and can finally say that I’ve completed it! I even managed to get the title of ‘Apprentice of the Month’ by my training provider back in December! There’s been a lot of gruelling coursework to get through, but it’s all been worth it in the end! I’ve learnt so much and met a bunch of brilliant people along the way. I’m very excited to continue working with Base Creative and can’t wait to see what the future brings.