I use symantec anti-virus because it's free from my university and it seems to do the job.
I feel safer using a paid antivirus than a free one like avg. should i still get avg or avast instead of symantec?

Ah... I also used to have symantec for free from my university. lol
Most antiviruses do the job, but if you take a look at some of the tests done, AVG and Avast actually beat Symantec. Now, I think the version you have is a corporate version which is known to be better than consumer versions.
From my experience, corporate symantec still took a lot of resources to run.
On my slower comp, I noticed that it ran faster with avast installed compared to symantec.
It's your choice, but most people nowadays, recommend avast and avg over symantec or mcafee.