Everybody makes university seem like such a daunting, terrifying and nerve-wracking experience but when you choose to study what you love, the experience feels almost too short and so much fun.

I only say this because I speak from experience.

Even though I am a third-year student (studying journalism and media technology), I have been at this institution since 2016 and my first two years at NUST ended up a waste of time, because I was busy studying something I honestly could not stand.

I remember not feeling ready to go to university in my matric year, but because all my friends were talking about their future plans in whatever institution, I felt the need to apply to one.

Because I wasn’t ready, I let my parents decide what I should do and they chose human resources management.

I did that course for a year and two months before I chose to cancel all my subjects, cancel my qualification and officially drop out.

The rest of 2017, I dedicated to figuring out what is it I love doing and whether I will be able to do what I love at NUST and after months of job shadowing and self-introspection, I re-applied to the journalism and media course towards the end of 2017.

I was accepted and I am now in my third and final year of my course and as cliché as it may sound, the years literally flew by.

As a result of giving myself time to find out what I love and choosing to study what I enjoy doing, I have approximately a year-and-a-half’s worth of job experience in the media industry, mainly because I didn’t want to wait until I was a graduate to throw myself in the field.

In my first year I did an internship at the Windhoek Observer newspaper as a junior reporter for about 8 months and once that was done I did a brief internship at Base FM for three months where I was a radio presenter and content creator.

I moved from radio back to print work when I did a six-month internship at The Namibian newspaper and now I am currently doing another internship in the marketing and communications department at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.

While working at these various places, I also did freelance writing for two Namibian magazines, namely Sister Namibia and Namibia Weddings, and I was also able to keep my grades at a 70% average the entire time.

It’s safe to say that after I graduate, I have set long- and short-term career goals. All this because I chose to study what I enjoy doing and not what my parents wanted me to do.
I believe that it is so vital for students to pursue a university education in something they enjoy and can see themselves doing because it helps make the university experience so much easier.

Doing homework does not feel like a chore, completing assignments is not boring and working in your specific field does not feel like something that would make you age a lot sooner than you should because of the stress.

If there is one piece of advice I could give to learners that are about to complete high school, it is that they should not be in too much of a hurry to make it into university just because all your friends are going to university.

Take your time, make sure you are sure about what you want to study and have fun. Your course does not have to feel like a punishment.