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My name is Ilya. I am sixteen. I am a student at a college in Yekaterinburg.

My college is big and modern. There are many classrooms, two computer labs and a gym.

I want to be a programmer. I study maths, English and computer science. I like my lessons very much.

My classes start at nine o'clock. I have got four or five lessons a day. After classes I go to the gym with my friends.

I like my college. The teachers are friendly and helpful.

Last year I finished the ninth grade and had to make a difficult decision. My parents wanted me to stay at school and then go to university, but I wanted to go to college.

I have always loved cooking. When I was twelve, I was already making dinner for the whole family on Sundays. So I decided to become a chef and applied to a college of catering in my city.

College life is very different from school life. The lessons are longer, and we have lectures as well as practical classes. Twice a week we cook in a real professional kitchen, and our teachers are experienced chefs.

The first months were harder than I expected. I was getting up at six, and I was always tired. But now I am used to it, and I enjoy every day.

Next summer I am going to do my work placement in a restaurant. My parents are proud of me now!

In Russia, students can leave school after the ninth grade and continue their education at a college, which gives them a profession as well as secondary education. Depending on the course, studies usually last between two and four years. Students who enter college after the eleventh grade can often finish their course faster.

Colleges train specialists in hundreds of professions: nurses, electricians, programmers, designers, mechanics, teachers of young children and many others. What makes this kind of education different from university is its practical focus. A large part of the course is spent in workshops and laboratories, and almost every student does a work placement at a real company.

College has become more popular in recent years. Many teenagers feel that they are ready to choose a career early, and they want to start earning money sooner than their friends who go to university. Graduates who have a useful profession are in high demand, especially in technical fields.

However, college is not an easy option. Students who have chosen the wrong profession may lose interest quickly, and some courses are very competitive. That is why it is important to visit open days and talk to current students before applying.

My sister has already graduated from a medical college, and she now works as a nurse. If I enjoy science as much as she does, I will follow her example.

For many Russian families, the end of the ninth grade brings a question that would have seemed almost unthinkable a generation ago: should a fifteen-year-old stay at school, or leave for college? Not long ago, college was widely regarded as a fallback for those who had not done well at school. Today, however, a growing number of strong students choose it deliberately.

The arguments in favour of college are persuasive. Having spent two or three years mastering a practical skill, graduates enter the job market at nineteen with real experience, while their peers are still in the middle of a university degree. Moreover, a college diploma does not close the door to higher education: many graduates go on to university later, often studying in the same field and with a much clearer idea of why they are there.

Yet the choice is not without risks. Few people know at fifteen what they want to do for the rest of their lives, and a teenager who has chosen a profession under pressure from parents, or simply to follow friends, may find himself stuck in a field he dislikes. Staying at school, by contrast, keeps more options open for two more years.

In my view, neither path is better in itself; what matters is how consciously the decision is made. A student who has tried out a profession, talked to people working in it and weighed up the alternatives is likely to succeed whichever route they take.

If I had been forced to decide at fourteen, I would almost certainly have chosen the wrong course. It was only after a summer job at a car repair shop that I realised I wanted to become an engineer, and that a technical college was the best place to start.