This year, I along with all my classmates will be taking my first big step towards the real world.

This year is the year we make our university applications and with summer now over, the pressure has begun to build up.

Not only the pressure of getting into university, although of course that does at times keep me up at night, but the pressure of learning that as of now we are no longer children with a world of dreams and ambitions, but lost students who have no idea what direction we want to head in.

The pressure of knowing, or believing that at 17, we are supposed to map out the rest of our lives, or at least the next 10 years. Above all, at least in my experience, the pressure of having to communicate all these answers to our parents every meal, every family outing and every car ride.

Personally, I’d like to go back to the time when as children we went to bed each night with dreams of being astronauts, doctors or even explorers. 

I guess this is because I myself have neither let go of my own childhood dreams, nor understood why I even should.

With each passing year, higher education has become more and more competitive, and therefore more people applying for it have become cautious, afraid to take risks and therefore end up settling for degrees which, although meant to serve as door openers to a variety of careers, end up being used for menial and dull jobs because the safe option seems to be the better one.

But surely this is the antithesis to the benefit higher education is supposed to bring us?

Today, I find myself in a position where my dreams are being pushed aside in order for me to sort out my 10 year plan, right here and right now.

As a person whose long term plans mainly consists of what I’m going to wear next weekend, or the theme for my 18^th party, this is a lot to digest. Research, work experience and planning aside, I cannot help but feel that at this point in my life, I don’t need a 10 year plan.

I don’t need to spend another month doing work experience in a field in which I already know I have no interest in simply because those are safe, respectable jobs containing a decent scope for acceptable pay. I don’t need to be setting aside my dreams and aspirations because they may not be successful or well paying.

I guess my point to fellow students, and to their parents, is that university is not part of a 10 year plan and our careers do not need to be planned out this instant.

Whilst I do not disagree that an extremely lax attitude should not be taken towards university, I do not feel that the university course you chose and your future career are necessarily interlinked.

I do not feel that it is wise to sacrifice your aspirations for the safer choice, or force yourself into a certain career just because you feel it is about time you have chosen something.

The next few years create time for self-discovery, probably the last few years which we have to experiment and discover what we are truly interested in, passionate for and talented at.

Do not let these years go waste; break away from interning at banks and accountancy firms and think back to your dreams (keeping them realistic.) Try your hand at writing, journalism or wherever your interests lie.  

Of course, five years from now, we will have to consider careers very strongly, and yes, at that point we will have to make solid, responsible decisions. But those decisions cannot be made correctly without sampling what the world has to offer.

So I wish the best of luck to everyone applying to universities this year, and hope that you sample as much as you can over these next few years. To parents who feel this is a time for maturity and responsibility remember this; it is neither mature, nor responsible to sacrifice potential greatness for security.