Student loan payments are just another income tax slapped on young people. It’s something that a professor said to me on the phone this week when we were discussing the politics of Gen Z.

“Anyone who has been to university in the last 10 years is paying more income tax than everybody else,” he said. “Because that’s effectively what the tuition stroke maintenance regime means, in Scotland as well as England.”

It made me reflect on my time at university, and to be honest, it was an utter shambles. Now, when young people ask me for advice about breaking into journalism, I’m quick to suggest that college seems to provide a lot more bang for your buck. It’s more hands-on, more practical, and they seem to place value on working in the industry rather than just stroking your chin while musing about the industry.

I graduated with my BA (Hons) degree at the University of Stirling in the spring of 2020. The whole world was topsy turvy and I thought staying on to do my Masters in International Journalism was a smart decision, given how uncertain the job market was at that time. And then it fell apart.

READ MORE MARISSA MACWHIRTER

Halfway through the course, the module co-ordinator left (under what terms I couldn’t say). When we returned from Christmas break, we were met with silence. Weeks passed. No one had a clue what was going on. Another member of the faculty stepped in, and we were finally assigned dissertation advisors. Mine went on annual leave during the eleventh hour without a peep or an out-of-office. A dozen gray hairs sprouted from my........

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