Why Birmingham won't keep me after I graduate

Sep 9 2009 by Rebekah Douglas

There are different things that I like about both Manchester and Birmingham. Both have everything you could need as a student but what Birmingham will never have is the sentiment of being the place in which I grew up and it has already lost its adventure factor.

A lot of students who haven’t take the risk of moving to London yet may have ambitions to move there for a career. I am probably one of them.

One way I can credit this city is for preparing me for bigger and better things in life.

I feel that three years in Birmingham without the care of parents has made me eager to do things I wasn’t previously ready for. Maybe that’s why they call it the Second City – it has a lot to offer but London has even more and that’s pretty hard to compete with.

I don’t believe that graduates are instantly-settled human beings who are ready to choose exactly what they want and where they want to be. I’m certainly not. For me the future is bright and I want to do everything and go everywhere. I certainly can’t do all that just in Birmingham. I feel like I have got everything out of it that I can and now I want something fresh.

Birmingham certainly has something for everyone, whatever their interests, but it’s not as big as I expected and I’m ready for some new places and new experiences. Considering it has a population of more than a million, I doubt I could spend many more years exploring and learning new things about the city, unlike London, or numerous cities abroad.

I know that, for a lot of students, plunging straight into full-time work straight after years of education may not be the ultimate appeal. After graduation the world is your oyster and there are so many options available to us, such as travelling or moving abroad or even continuing with even more education. When the world has so much to offer to young people of today it makes sense that it is hard for one city to compete.

For the rest of this year I’ll be focusing on my next steps in life and where they will take me. Whether I decide to travel or settle into a job in the journalism industry I have yet to decide.

Will that path ever lead me back to Birmingham? I don’t know. I am open to the career opportunities that Birmingham has to offer and I will not rule it out completely if I come across an ideal job in the city.

If it came down to two job offers, one in Birmingham and one in a new city, I’d take the one in the new city because I’m up for the challenge and the adventure.

If I was offered two jobs, one in Birmingham and one in Manchester, I’d take the Manchester job. As amazing as my university years have been so far, Birmingham hasn’t beaten the love for home and my desire to see the world.

If other graduates are thinking like me, then you can easily understand why they don’t stick around for too long.

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