To university or not to?

So recently I thought my life was relatively figured out. I have a job that I really enjoy, a university placement waiting and a path I wanted to follow. It wasn't perfect but it was a set plan for the next couple of years. Until the other day that is. I was having a conversation with my parents when it was mentioned that I didn't necessarily have to go to university to get a good job in this day and age. Now I knew that there were options, a lot of them, but I never thought about me not going to university. University is pushed on us from the day we enter school, it's almost assumed. But the fact is is that most people don't go to university, only about one in 6. So where does this leave me (or you for that matter)? 

Well for one thing it is an incredibly liberating idea. Instead of going from school, to a temporary job, to more school and then to a career, all of a sudden I can go straight to a career. It may be a slower route and I will have to climb my way up instead of being boosted but it saves me another 4-6 years of school with thousands of dollars of debt with an uncertain way to pay them off. And what if, after all of that, I change my mind? 

On the other hand, the idea itself is petrifying. I had had everything worked out (I'm a planner, not obvious at all...) and all of a sudden I'm back to where I started. As for career opportunities, I'm not too worried. As I said, it may be slower to work my way up in a company but I can go to TAFE (a much cheaper and underrated version of university), and some companies will even pay for you to do some courses, such as management. 

So how do I (or you) figure this out, how do we choose between university or just working? Well that depends, why do you want to go? Are there other courses (back to TAFE again) that you can do that would be faster? Do you even need to do a course for your line of work? And finally, are you sure you will enjoy the job that you are studying for? Now I want to study psychology. There are no TAFE courses to become a psychologist and I don't just want to be a councillor, I do need to do a course but I'm not sure if I will enjoy it or be any good at it. I'm a very empathic person so the big question is, can I take on all so much of other people's troubles and not be severely affected? Fortunately for me, there is a solution. There are many life-lines and help lines that take on volunteers and give them a short course in counselling. So problem solved. If I like counselling I will go on to university and if I hate it I will do something else. Probably business.

I'm not discounting the experience of university, I think it will be great. I just think that I'm not spending that much money on an experience if I don't need it. So what about you guys? What are your thoughts on university and do you want to go. Thanks for reading, don't forget to comment. Until next time, 

Catherine