20/09/2026
When I was 16 and finishing school, uni wasn’t something everyone did. It was for the middle class kids who were around me, who lived in the affluent village my school was in. And, I’ve got to be honest:
I didn’t feel like uni was an option for a black kid (and there were only like 4 of us in my year 😮💨)
So I moved to London and started a fine arts A-Level because I liked art but never saw it as a path to uni. I dropped out after the first term and started working. And I never stopped.
The thing is, the world changed. A lot. It went from a degree not being really necessary for ordinary jobs to one where it’s a basic requirement for so many.
A lot of people question whether degrees are necessary but I can’t help but notice, most of them have one.
People criticise the education systems and I can’t help but notice they’re often not the people struggling at the bottom.
Opportunities are not equal and where you start from plays a huge role. It’s something I see pretty much daily living in a city where the affluence level is high.
What I do know, and honestly feel if not daily then at least monthly is this:
The more choice you have, the more opportunity you have. And the choices you make as a teen and early adult massively influence the opportunities you have as you get older. Even if you think you know otherwise 🙈
I want my son to have all the opportunities available to him. And that means hoping he’ll understand when the time comes that education really is everything and will have a massive impact on your future. Especially as a human with brown skin.
Ultimately of course the choices he makes will be his, but as a mum I feel like it’s up to me to make sure he has an informed one.
I still dream of getting my degree - maybe one day I will.
Just some thoughts I had when I found this photo of me somewhen in my late 20s in Ibiza 💫
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