The idea of figuring out your future is scary - terrifying even, looking at the stretch of time when leaving the safety net of school, time that is yours to do whatever you want with. Yeah - scary.

I'm the eldest of 3 daughters, to hardworking immigrant parents from Sri Lanka. Although they were supportive in ensuring that I pursued a degree/ career that I wanted to do, I had minimal support when it came to the hows of that journey. Not to mention, the support dwindling even more when I decided I wanted to focus on securing a degree apprenticeship instead.  

I knew that going straight into the workplace was the right choice for me. I've always been a doer: spending 5 years working and eventually chairing the West Sussex Youth Cabinet, Head Student, working as a freelance poet/spoken word artist, partaking in bar mock trials - just to name a few. All these activities taught me so much about work ethic, punctuality and delivering high quality work which I didn't receive in the classroom. A revelation to me that learning from a book was not my preferred method of learning.

Although my school tried to support me as best as possible, I was left pretty much to my own devices when it came to applying for the apprenticeships. I was the first person in my family (including extended) to even have the chance at university and a corporate job. So, it meant navigating this process by watching endless YouTube videos, messaging kind strangers on LinkedIn and my dad feeding back his findings when talking to the regulars in his taxi (they proved to be very helpful!)

 After countless applications, interviews, and psychometric tests alongside completing coursework and studying for English Literature, Politics and Business and applying for university through UCAS - I received my offer as a Programme and Project Management Degree Apprentice at Arup. The role at the top of the list of apprenticeships I wanted!

 Now 16 months on, I can safely say this was the best decision for me. I am constantly learning, experiencing amazing opportunities and growing in ways I didn't think was possible at this stage of my life.

 My advice for those deciding their futures - the advice I give to my sisters:

1. Take charge: you are out of full-time education, structure and the time is yours to do with what you want - use that to your advantage. Find out what you want from life, your values and your personality. Find something that works around that. I knew the sort of learner I was, and I love to be busy, hence taking the apprenticeship route. What does that look like for you?
2. It's okay to take risks: this is a point in your life where most people have minimal commitments, no mortgages, no dependants. Use that to your advantage to walk the unpaved road. Start a business? Gap year? Apprenticeship? One advice I was given is that university is always there, if the apprenticeship didn't work out, there was nothing stopping me from enrolling later down the line.
3. Find mentors: This may slightly contradict my point of taking the unpaved road, however, the point is that you do not need to reinvent the wheel. If someone else has done something you want to do, reach out to them, grab a coffee, learn and take notes about what they did that worked for them, what they did that may not have. Learn from their successes and mistakes!

As a crazy overthinker, the idea of leaving school and seeing what the grass was like on the other side petrified me. No longer seeing friends every day, losing the structure that school sets out and having to find myself outside this establishment I've been a part of until the age of 18 - anxiety inducing for sure.

Now, being on the other side, getting to call myself an internationally published poet, working with some newfound friends on a business and still being able to gain a qualification with 3 and a half years of experience in the industry I wanted alongside it - yeah, life on the other side isn't as bad as I thought it would be!

Iffat Rahman

[If-feth Rah-maan]

Spoken word Artist and Poet

Level 6 Degree Apprentice in Programme and Project Management

Head of Marketing at Speakerz Space

Connect with me on LinkedIn and for poetry, @sincerely.Iffat across Social Media