The Student Room Group

Should i go for my passion? (Uni)

So my situation is not ideal. I’m currently in my 1st Year of Biology BSc and also had started and English Language BA last year (2022-2023 academic year) straight after A-Levels, but quit in Semester 1 because i was commuting from home and felt stagnant and wanted to move away to uni, and also needed the year off because of illness at the time. So here i am a year later 4 hours from home at Uni doing Biology. I do think my course is very satisfactory and I like the academic side of it but I don’t see myself wanting to work in a laboratory in the future, and already dislike lab work (50% of the course is lab work). I know there are possibilities of things such as environmental work and i am unsure about “throwing away”, if you like, that possibility, but i am just so sure that i want to do something design/artistic/creative in the future and Art is the only thing which i feel a true passion for. A Levels are Fine Art, Biology, English Language. I must also add that academically, i am best at English, and when i had started the English Language BA i was already achieving good grades, so yet again i feel uneasy about “throwing” that away as well, but i still feel more passionate towards art. As for Student Finance, I have been told i should get the extra year of Funding i need due to having had illness, so that isn’t a concern. Fine Art was my original plan and when I was 18 in early 2022 I had an interview and received offers, but was unable to see the extent of my passion and the value of these offers because i was quite shaken by the whole prospect of University and leaving everything I knew. So as I said before, i can now with a more mature mind see that my original plan (Fine Art) is what i truly want to do, so is it worth it to go for it? I really just need an outside perspective on the matter, anything helps :smile:
Reply 1
Original post by unsweetenedblue
So my situation is not ideal. I’m currently in my 1st Year of Biology BSc and also had started and English Language BA last year (2022-2023 academic year) straight after A-Levels, but quit in Semester 1 because i was commuting from home and felt stagnant and wanted to move away to uni, and also needed the year off because of illness at the time. So here i am a year later 4 hours from home at Uni doing Biology. I do think my course is very satisfactory and I like the academic side of it but I don’t see myself wanting to work in a laboratory in the future, and already dislike lab work (50% of the course is lab work). I know there are possibilities of things such as environmental work and i am unsure about “throwing away”, if you like, that possibility, but i am just so sure that i want to do something design/artistic/creative in the future and Art is the only thing which i feel a true passion for. A Levels are Fine Art, Biology, English Language. I must also add that academically, i am best at English, and when i had started the English Language BA i was already achieving good grades, so yet again i feel uneasy about “throwing” that away as well, but i still feel more passionate towards art. As for Student Finance, I have been told i should get the extra year of Funding i need due to having had illness, so that isn’t a concern. Fine Art was my original plan and when I was 18 in early 2022 I had an interview and received offers, but was unable to see the extent of my passion and the value of these offers because i was quite shaken by the whole prospect of University and leaving everything I knew. So as I said before, i can now with a more mature mind see that my original plan (Fine Art) is what i truly want to do, so is it worth it to go for it? I really just need an outside perspective on the matter, anything helps :smile:


I say go for it! If that’s what you’re totally set on then in 20 years you won’t be thinking about the extra year it took you to get there, you’ll be happy you did it! Hope you do well with whatever you choose :smile:
Original post by unsweetenedblue
So my situation is not ideal. I’m currently in my 1st Year of Biology BSc and also had started and English Language BA last year (2022-2023 academic year) straight after A-Levels, but quit in Semester 1 because i was commuting from home and felt stagnant and wanted to move away to uni, and also needed the year off because of illness at the time. So here i am a year later 4 hours from home at Uni doing Biology. I do think my course is very satisfactory and I like the academic side of it but I don’t see myself wanting to work in a laboratory in the future, and already dislike lab work (50% of the course is lab work). I know there are possibilities of things such as environmental work and i am unsure about “throwing away”, if you like, that possibility, but i am just so sure that i want to do something design/artistic/creative in the future and Art is the only thing which i feel a true passion for. A Levels are Fine Art, Biology, English Language. I must also add that academically, i am best at English, and when i had started the English Language BA i was already achieving good grades, so yet again i feel uneasy about “throwing” that away as well, but i still feel more passionate towards art. As for Student Finance, I have been told i should get the extra year of Funding i need due to having had illness, so that isn’t a concern. Fine Art was my original plan and when I was 18 in early 2022 I had an interview and received offers, but was unable to see the extent of my passion and the value of these offers because i was quite shaken by the whole prospect of University and leaving everything I knew. So as I said before, i can now with a more mature mind see that my original plan (Fine Art) is what i truly want to do, so is it worth it to go for it? I really just need an outside perspective on the matter, anything helps :smile:
(i apologise in advance if this sounds patronising.)

try and be a little more specific if you can, what kind of creative field would you go into? if you were working for someone else (either under a director, or for a client) in a entry-level role in a creative field, would you be happy producing something you may have had little creative input in and which you personally may in fact dislike?
if you do have a specific field in mind (for example graphic design, product design, UI/UX, industrial design) it may also be worth considering a degree related to that field rather than a general Fine Art degree - no matter what field you go into you will ideally need an industry-specific portfolio, which may be difficult to work on while also producing the work you need for your Fine Art degree.

additionally, do you have a lot of self-initiative and are you prepared to put in extra work outside of your degree to shape your career? placements, experience, projects, societies, etc? art, like the humanities, is a degree that doesn't itself prepare you for a specific job, so you will need to do extra things to make yourself stand out in the job market.

if you've considered those aspects and you think Fine Art is the best option for you, then i agree, go for it!
you seem a bit lost, seek some help from the university careers service.

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