From as far back as I can remember mom and dad preached to us kids the importance of college. "Earn that degree and you"ll go places' they would always say. Unfortunately, in this day and age, it is no longer a guarantee. Chances are a degree will earn you nothing but debt, and perhaps resentment for wasting valuable years attending classes persistently to wind up with…nothing but a piece of paper.
Here is where I started down the wrong path. I worked full time while attending school full time. Needless to say I had no social life. Up at dawn and off to work, after work straight to school, after school straight home, and after homework and some "incredibly bad for you" food, back to bed. I was doing what I had been told; earning my precious degree.
I, among so many other students, took college extremely seriously. If we failed a class, it was the end of the world; or at least the end of our prized GPA. Everyone knows, the higher the GPA, the more esteemed the student. The amount of stress and caffeine pilfered years off our lives, and yet, we persevered. Finally, that glorious day arrived. We had achieved the ultimate goal; a college degree. Proudly beaming, we were presented with our degree earned with blood, sweat and tears. We could not wait to display it for the world to see. This was it, the start of a whole new life! Or so it seemed.
I spent a full year unemployed whilst diligently searching for a position in my field. I was not discouraged - I had a field now. But alas, it was the same old song and dance each interview…I had no experience. Every door I tried to open ended up closing in my face. My beloved degree would not even pick the lock. I was not good enough for my field.
In case you were wondering, I am not rich either. Living on water and noodles for a year and borrowing to pay my bills (school loans included) was beginning to take its toll. I decided to settle for an administrative position, which was right up my alley. So once again I began diligently searching for a position I had experience in. It was hopeless because now I was over-qualified. I had earned that degree.
And there I sat; unable to perform the job duties I had done for years because I had a degree, and unable to use that degree because I had no experience. Awesome. There goes my bubble. My proud accomplishment, my hard earned degree, still resides on my wall of accomplishments, but no longer on my resume. If I am going to survive I need a job, and the only way to acquire one was to not mention my accomplishments at all. It sounds pretty pathetic to me.
So in the long run, is it really worth going to college these days? If you rub elbows with the right people it is; everyone knows it isn't what you know but whom you know. Unfortunately I, among countless other students, refused to believe that. I am still surviving, making less money than I did before college, but learning my lesson. Moving upwards in a growing company will get you far more than a piece of paper you paid eighty grand for. And now I am able to afford 2 cents worth of advice.
