Toby Bakare had to decide between a law degree – which had financial potential, and history – which was his passion. This is his story
As a kid, I was always interested in history, but at school it was not seen as a useful subject. For my GCSEs I was told to study more practical subjects, like business studies and ICT. I wasn't very good at these subjects. I didn't enjoy them, but I could see the logic in studying them, so I did.
When it was time to choose subjects at A-level, I learned from my mistakes at GCSE and knew that I wanted to do what I enjoyed and what interested me; history became a must. At college, I became passionate about the past. This was because of two fantastic teachers who didn't just teach facts and what would be in the exam, they talked about ideas and why these ideas mattered.
When it came to choosing a degree, for me there were two options. One that would be valuable in the world of work – law, and one that I enjoyed – history. My mum thought it was important I choose a subject that had the potential for a high salary (law). My brother, on the other hand, thought I should do what I loved (history) and worry about the rest later. My teachers also thought I should study history as they could see my passion and aptitude for it.
The decision was all the more agonising because of my circumstances. My mum was a single parent who was bringing me up in one of the dodgier areas of south London. She had done well to keep me on the straight and narrow and she knew the value of education and how it provided the best way to move up from my surroundings. Choosing law would have been the best way to repay her – it offered a vocation, and a lucrative one at that.
I know law was certainly a popular subject for prospective undergrads at college. I wasn't the only one who had enjoyed our history classes, who would get caught up in the hour-long discussions on Stalin's rise to power and communism in the 20th century. But hardly anyone chose history. Most of my friends, from similarly poor backgrounds, felt like me that they wanted to repay the kindness of their parents who had sacrificed so much.
I listened to my brother and teachers and decided it was best to study what I enjoyed most. I'm glad I did. I went through the gambit of subjects, from Roman Catholicism to climate change, Northern Ireland to Israel, and by the end of it, I felt as though I had done a course that allowed me to ask more questions, analyse and better understand the world around me.
There was also another reason why I'm glad I chose history. Time. This may sound silly, but I didn't want to be a lawyer, and so studying law would have been a mistake. Time can sound like a bourgeois concept. One thing that the poorest students who were going to university all had in common was impatience to get on and make money; they knew what they wanted to do and didn't have any time to waste.
I now know I want to be a journalist. I'm taking that old cliche, "a year out", to get experience and the qualifications necessary. History gave me education rather than training, and it allowed me the time to find out what I wanted to do. These things are vital in making the right career choices and so, despite the fact that I won't be raking it in, I'm glad in the end that I chose history.
• Toby Bakare graduated from Southampton University in July and is hoping to start a journalism course next year