Ever since being a young child, it has been drilled into me that to get where you want to be, you need to go to Uni, you need to get a bachelors degree and you need to get perfect A's across the board. Though I do fully believe University is very benificial for certain avenues people want to go down, it's not particular something I believe I need going into this, thus is why I believe researching will either make or break this current belief I have in this was of thinking. I will go more into my personal dream in my 1 year, 5 year and 10 year, but for now, I will just give a quick run down of where I want to be and what I personally will be doing to achieve that.

Personally, I want to become a photographer who has the free reign to travel whereever I wish & to explore any ideas I may have. Of course that is a dream for many, but I don't personally want to become famous for breathtaking films or have the need to be known world wide and have every moment of my life documented, I just want to do my own little thing and have the freedom to do so. Of course, this does not mean that is the opportunity did arise for me to work as a director for a large scale film or project I would deny it, I don't want it to come across as me saying "This is where I want to be, so this is where I will stay". I'm just stating, that personally I would enjoy a more peaceful work role, such as a Wildlife Photographer, Stock Photographer or Travel Photographer, but if an opportunity in the future came forward, I may have to think twice.

So keeping that in mind, the next steps are to help really push me in that direction, so I wanted to research a few ways I could truly get into that industry & what educational backing I would need for it. Firstly, I knew one thing for certain, I needed to do a Digital Marketing Course.

Firstly I decided that looking for a short Digital Marketing Course would be the best myself, as marketing myself online would be the ability to have in the coming future. So I started to search around for available short Digital Marketing Courses for me to take within the vicinity of Peterborough, when my boss from work recommended an acquaintance of his, Sara from Creative Remedy.

With this course, I would be able to achieve a certificate of completion upon completing my course there. Within the course overview which can found at: https://www.creativeremedy.co.uk/

I would learn the following skills & how to improve upon them:

• Effective Brand Identity

• Efficient social media knowledge, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Vimeo.

• Selling yourself online

• How to use, Slugs, SEO's, Html's

• Setting up an appealing professional website

• Advertising of products or services

Being one of the shortest but also cheapest local Digital Marketing courses around Peterborough it will be invaluable for my future endeavors to invest in this.

Certification upon completion of course:

Whilst researching into case studies, I came across Will Nicholls who is a Nature photographer, working as a director for many awards & previously working for the BBC and the National Geographic. He studied at University of Exeter in Zoology, which allowed him to study animal behaviour and understand the environments in which the animals live and stay, this opened up many doors for him, such as the National Geographic.

Researching into the course allowed for me to learn a bit more about the course itself:

The course I was specifically looking at was an Undergraduate course, this meant that the requirements for entry would be a BTEC: DDD or DDM, in any relevant course. Though Media somewhat can correlate, with no prior volunteer work with animal projects or publicly known interest in the subject itself, I may be difficult to truly sell myself enough for the course. This means, that if I wanted to get on the course, I would most likely need to spend a good chunk of 2023, volunteering to animal related agencies within the UK and fully focus on bringing forward within any Media working going forward. Applying then in 2024.

The course would take 3 years, but with a BTEC: DDD, could be offered 4 years, with a Study Abroad & Professional Placements happening within the 4th year. This would all happen at Penryn Campus near Falmouth, Cornwall. Which is one of my dream places to live within the UK, so definitely learning this was a huge boost to my curiosity.

The description of the course is as follows:

• "Gain expertise in evolution, physiology, animal behaviour, ecology and conservation

• Focus on an understanding of whole-animal biology, ecology and behaviour, and the evolution of animal life histories

• Experience extensive fieldwork in the UK and international locations

• You will be exposed to a wide range of practical and theoretical techniques"

- Execter.ac.uk

This would allow me to explore more Wildlife Photography/Videographer, if that is the industry I wished to go forward into. With the cost of the course being £9,250 per year for students based within the UK, and £27,000 per year for international studies, but with the opportunities for some to do a paid scholarship within the program.

If I were to take this on, it would definitely benefit me in the future if I were to go into an industry which focused on wildlife and animals, thus aiding me to become a wildlife photographer and definitely a huge contender for going to Uni.

After deciding to looking into more of a photography orientated position, as I really do enjoy that, I came across The Guardians top Universities for Media and Photography. From this list I found many potential Universities to research and really focus on, but the one that stood out to me was, The University of Leeds, specifically the Film, Photography and Media BA degree.

Lackluster website designs out the window (especially the highlighted in pink parts, they're not highligheted my end), the University of Leeds after a Bachelor in Arts, 3 year course which covers study of films, key theorums and debates on historic developments. They also have an optional study abroad & work placement, as part of the course itself. With a BTEC entry requirement of a DDD in related subjects, it will take a Creative Media course as related, so it just comes down to the DDD requirement.

"This course blends film, photography and media to help you develop the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to succeed in the fast-growing media sector. While this is an academic degree, you’ll be able to explore production practices using our industry-standard facilities and understand how theory and practice can support each other. Optional modules allow you to focus on film analysis and theory, develop skills in animation or scriptwriting, or to broaden the scope of your degree into the field of media and communication. You’ll gain an understanding of the historical, theoretical, cultural and industrial contexts of film and photography, alongside mastering skills in production and post production." - courses.leeds.ac.uk

With costs being £9,250 (per year studied), it is the same price as all other post-graduate courses in the same sector. Though their study abroad program is definitely nothing to shy away from, with another academia year, spending time studying from Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa to Latin America. With even their work placements list being quite long and lenght, it is definitely nothing to scoff at.

Definitely interesting, but personally, nothing said appart from traveling with their abroad program really stood out to me. I understand that the benefit of university is the people you meet and the work you learn along the way, but I don't feel like this course is for me, though it would aid me in getting a professional photographer position in the future.

Now this is definitely a course out of left field and does not really match anything I have been saying before, but it is always good to have a wildcard within the mix, to really do something suprising. I am someone who has been into gaming, specifically competitive gaming since a young age, from CS 1.6, TF2, CS:GO, Overwatch, SSBU and now OW2. Though it's definitely something that has peeked my interest and my reaction time within the games themselves is definitely not something to brag home about, maybe being the production behind the event would be better? This is where Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, Nottingham comes into play. I found out about this University from Lee Ashton and Interviewing him for my Case Study and decided to have a look at their "Upcoming Industries" courses and found this, It definitely stood out to a gamer, like myself.

This course is a post graduate course which is offered as a 3 year course Hon/BSc, with a requirement of a DDM in BTEC in a relevant course to enter. Though this is similar to colleges of the same league with the requirements, it is one of the only courses which does not offer a an extra study year within a work placement. This may be because it is a somewhat new medium to go into and not a lot of opportunities can be found within the close vicinity of east Anglian, really only having cropped up more in the Americas. The requirements for English/Maths is a grade C/4 or higher, this translates into Functional Maths and English level 2, which I have.

"Esports is considered one of the fastest growing sports, it's leading the way in live events production, broadcasting and streaming, and content creation. The industry is made up of professional players, games publishers, event specialists, broadcast/streaming providers like Twitch and Youtube, and global sponsors and technology providers.

At Confetti, our degree is routed in learning about the esports industry as a whole but focusing on broadcast production at the heart of it. Understanding the scale and impact that esports has had on the entertainment industry, the broadcast industry, and now the sports industry is paramount to establishing a career working in the contemporary creative industry." - Confetti.ac.uk

The tuition is like all other Uni's with a £9,250 per year, so it would fall into the same category as the rest for price range. Though it is not one I particularly want to jump at, it is without a doubt interesting and I want to check it out, so I will be heading to the open day in Nottingham.

This sections is the pros and cons about university & what I have learnt whilst researching for courses and additional education I can go into. The pros & cons will cover a lot of things which I believe both are benefits to going to college and what I believe, the negatives or the downsides, as you will, for going to university. Though it may be just my personal bias and takes on these and denefinitely will be subjective to whoever else may take this infomation, it's just to show that i understand both the benefits and negatives of university.

Pros:

Greater employment opportunities & choice - According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), individuals who go to University can expect to earn more on average than non-graduates over the course of their careers. However, recent studies by HESA data also reveals the fabled “graduate premium”, which is the higher earning power of university graduates compared to non-graduates, has reduced over time. This is in part because more people now gain a degree, leading to the demand of graduates dwindling in the eyes of employers as it's not as converted as it once was. Though this still doesn't disregard that having a degree opens up greater opportunities and choice in the job market.

Field experience - Though much harder than community college's, it allows for some real world hands on experience, pretty much identical to what the real world has to offer but in a format where you can get told what you did wrong and how to improve it for next time. It also allows for expanding your contact by meeting avid enjoyer's of the same subject as yourself, as well as allowing you to network with potential co-workers for later in life, broadening your range of interests through clubs, the opportunity to study and live abroad, learning life skills like budgeting and how to live more independent which will come in handy after graduation.

Taught by industry experts & reccomendations/references - Getting the chance to work with and learn from industry professionals who have worked in that line of business their whole life and can help you avoid the pitfalls and errors they may have come across in their lifetime. They will also help you understand your specialties and grow your passion for your chosen subject and even help find a niche within that subject.

Your in control - Though touched on before, University allows for much more independant work & social life than anywhere else, whilst still allowing for you to feel free but also nutured and looked after. This allows for you to feel as though you are in control, allowing you to make more valuable decisions in your life than you would if you were still living with family.

Cons:

Student debt - Now this is very big and tough subject to tackle because it is talked about as it wildely acknowledged to being one of the biggest reason why most people drop out of university, with typical tuition costs being £9,250 a year and many students having to take out lifelong loans to pay it back. Add in living costs and the average debt for those who started their course in 2021/22 will be £45,800 by the time they graduate. Although students do not start paying back their loans until their earnings exceed a certain threshold (£20,195 - £21,000 a year), they are charged interest on their total loan from the day they take it out. When repayments begin, they can be substantial (currently 9% of their income above the repayment threshold). Even so, some will not pay back the loan within 30 years, at which point the remaining balance is written off. These figures may change, and not in students’ favour.

Graduation rates vs straight into the business - Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank found that in England, on average, men who studied the creative arts earned less across their lifetimes than they would have if they had not attended university, while women with an arts degree earned about the same as those without one. By comparison, men who studied medicine or economics, the subjects with the highest graduate premiums, earned £500,000 more in their lifetime than they would have had they not gone to university. Data published in 2019 by the Office for National Statistics found almost a third of graduates were overqualified for their job.

Degree vs apprenticeship - As more young people weigh up the trade-offs and costs of a university degree, so the focus has shifted back towards vocational courses and on-the-job training that offer many of the skills needed to succeed in the workplace without the accompanying student debt. A report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development published last year found a majority of graduates (52%) would have considered doing an apprenticeship instead of a degree. While a university degree will leave your career more open-ended in terms of future opportunities, by doing an apprenticeship "you'll immediately enter the world of work and gain valuable on-the-job experience while earning money as you study. You won't pay tuition fees and you'll make industry contacts from day one" - Prospects.

Grey area:

Independence - Although the independence is great for some students, for others it can be overwhelming, and homesickness can really affect your mental health. Most Unis will offer great support, but it really depends.

Heavier expected work load - With University being more independently driven, it requires a lot more for the student to do and focus on, with a lot of extra paperwork to hammer home the work which needs to be done by everyone in the real world. Some courses are more hands-on than others, so open days may be very beneficial for finding out just what is involved within the course. With a lot more deadlines and real world feedback, it requires the student to be really good at time management skills and for them to understand what is being asked of them, similar to a client job in the real world.