In my profession, I hear this a lot: “Everyone needs a bachelor’s degree. The bachelor’s degree is the new associate's degree. Most companies/professions don’t even care what the degree is, as long is there is a degree, that someone finished a program, can show they have work ethic and drive and some common set of skills." I’m not sure if this is true. Ironically, college enrollment is down everywhere where I live (myriad theories on that, including that most families are smaller than they used to be), and there are always those who find great success without finishing a bachelor’s degree, my brother being one, a computer guru who makes a helluva lot more than me. And I’m seeing a lot of the younger generation, not all that removed from me to be honest, coming up with all kinds of entrepreneurial things. But can they be successful? Truly? Are they really setting themselves up for failure? Or do MANY people do just fine without a degree? A lot of the jobs that people used to do without a degree seem to be morphing now as society changes. While some of the past are still present--factory jobs for instance, some pretty damn traditionally good paying ones--are being lost completely, plastics as an example or outsourcing as we know it. But plumbers and electricians aren’t going anyway; police officers and firemen too; and it’s interesting to see other things cropping up: uber drivers and others like them, grocery deliverers that didn’t exist, all kinds of food trucks, youtubers, online start-ups that never existed, writers (😊 ), poets, musicians, artists, and the list continues. People are different. People learn differently. But is a high school diploma enough to be well-rounded in things like the written and spoken word for most people? I teach in a field that doesn’t necessarily prepare anyone for a career, but instead, is supposed to prepare them to work hard, to think critically, to research, to discern credibility of information, to understand different cultures, to look at ideas and problems and issues from different perspectives and points of views, to be free thinkers, and so on. Isn't college supposed to be much more than the job it gets us? Shouldn't it be more? I think it’s important. Very. But how important is a college degree to getting us there, getting us to think? I, myself, don’t really know any different track personally. I didn’t stop my education until I became employed, and I’m still going! But wouldn’t traveling fulfill the same goals? But aaaah…that damn thing called money. How do you travel without that? Is college for everyone? Are we really doing so many people a disservice if we think this way? I think we are. Every day I see that it isn’t for everyone. And every day I wish I had answers. SHOULD it be for everyone? And is that just it? The way it’s set up, it isn't. And is that the crux of the problem? Are our educational institutions too traditional? My dad didn’t complete high school, and he managed to create a business that made him a wealthy man. Does it really just come down to drive? And work ethic? The desire to succeed? To have a dream and to follow it? I wish it were that easy. So many don’t have a dream, have no clue what they might find to feed their soul. In anything! Some days, I think I'm still trying to figure that out for myself. Do dreams always align with reality? And that is another issue in itself...
And so I ask you? Where do you land on this spectrum? And are you happy with the exact path you have taken?
2 Comments
2/7/2019 18:34:15
In my family, my mother was clever academically, but WW2 and her father's inability to pay, meant that college or university was denied her. My father left school at 14, and made his own way in the world, ending up a successful farmer and businessman. He had the good sense to marry my mother, who had the skills he lacked.
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DeeSee
2/8/2019 10:36:01
In the seeming twilight of my career (some day I will make that announcement) I am totally satisfied with it and have zero regrets. My formal education ended almost 50 years ago - no computers, no cell phones, no internet, not even a hand-held calculator. Rotary wall phones were still in vogue. So am I an ancient relic? Did my education fail me in my profession or life? No!
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I LOVE to write and read. I particularly enjoy reading erotic romance that has tons of emotion in it. I hope you will ask me questions and share your favorite authors and novels. I welcome all feedback.
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