It’s been two years since the very first episode of the Challenging University Podcast aired – featuring the story of my school friend Nina  and how she found career happiness in the housing sector whilst simultaneously starting, and running, a business with her husband and raising five children. Busy is not the word!

It felt fitting that Nina should be the first guest. She, like me, had lost her dad to cancer while studying for her GCSEs and between the two of us and our friends Lisa and Laura who had lost their mothers, we propped each other up and helped each other navigate incredible trauma with dark, dark humour.

Nina was also something else like me (in fact, more so than me): academically bright – absolutely ‘university fodder’ were you to look at the number and quality of GCSEs she achieved.

But that life wasn’t for her. And that’s ok.

This podcast exists to reassure people that you don’t *have* to go to university straight out of school. You can start and drop out. You can not go at all. You can do an apprenticeship or work your way up. You can study in the armed forces or sponsored by your employer. You can earn a degree when you want to but you really don’t “have” to.

Today’s post is a vote of thanks to the 45 guests who have generously shared their career stories so far. And to the guests who represent organisations that are designed to help people facing disadvantage, discrimination or who are disinclined to believe the hype that their school tells them about education and early careers. You can find a full (and growing) list of them on the Helpful Organisations page.

For those of you who have been here since the start, you’ll notice a name change – what began as university, challenged now exists at Challenging University Podcast (it’s a legal thing and I want this to be big!) – here’s to the next two years 🙂

Toni xx