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Originally featured on The Post-Grad Survival Guide on Medium.com, where I have graciously been given the title of Writer! Thanks, Tom!
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Originally featured on The Post-Grad Survival Guide on Medium.com, where I have graciously been given the title of Writer! Thanks, Tom!
If you'd like to read my blog in your email, click the subscribe button! Each post will come to your email, no gimmicks, nothing to buy, just my blog, free!
I graduated from college the first time in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Chemistry. There were a number of pharmaceutical companies where I lived at the time, and I always enjoyed science and chemistry in school; so it seemed a logical choice. I have never once used this degree, unless you count the years I sold used laboratory equipment obtained from surplus sales.
I graduated from college for the second time in 2010 with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts Degree, majoring in English Literature. This one I did for me. When I was a little girl, if someone asked me, what did I want to be when I grew up, I always said, a teacher. However, as I grew older, and realized that teachers didn’t make shite for money, and I had two children and a no good husband to support, I decided this was probably not a good idea. When I went back to school for my second degree, I was in a position to finally do something that I wanted to do, so I did.
Fast forward to today. Guess who still hasn’t used either of her degrees? Yep, you guessed it. This girl. Unless you count writing. Now that, I do, in abundance. Life got in the way, as it often does, and I was unable to attend graduate school in order to qualify to become a teacher. Meh, I’m ok with that now, but I can promise you that I most assuredly was NOT at the time. I will be paying for those student loans for quite some time, and that’s ok as well.
Both forays into the college world taught me a lot. The first time I spent a lot of time cramming, getting absolutely no sleep, working, working more, attending class half-asleep, and playing catch-up. It is really a miracle that I graduated, looking back. I was a single mother with no help, other than daycare, I attended school full-time, and worked full-time. Oh, and I was 17 years old when I started. I have NO idea how I got through it all, other than youth. I would love to tell you that I had mad time management skills, but that would be a lie. By the time I graduated, my son was starting kindergarten and I was starting my first REAL job — as an insurance agent.
WHAT?!?!
Yep.
Entry level chemists made less than insurance agents at the time. And at that point in my life, it was all about those dollars. By then, I had my second child, was married to a man who wouldn’t work, and I had to take care of my family. Career building was not on my resume. Bringing in a steady paycheck was the order of the day.
I graduated from college for the second time in 2010 with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts Degree, majoring in English Literature. This one I did for me. When I was a little girl, if someone asked me, what did I want to be when I grew up, I always said, a teacher. However, as I grew older, and realized that teachers didn’t make shite for money, and I had two children and a no good husband to support, I decided this was probably not a good idea. When I went back to school for my second degree, I was in a position to finally do something that I wanted to do, so I did.
Fast forward to today. Guess who still hasn’t used either of her degrees? Yep, you guessed it. This girl. Unless you count writing. Now that, I do, in abundance. Life got in the way, as it often does, and I was unable to attend graduate school in order to qualify to become a teacher. Meh, I’m ok with that now, but I can promise you that I most assuredly was NOT at the time. I will be paying for those student loans for quite some time, and that’s ok as well.
Both forays into the college world taught me a lot. The first time I spent a lot of time cramming, getting absolutely no sleep, working, working more, attending class half-asleep, and playing catch-up. It is really a miracle that I graduated, looking back. I was a single mother with no help, other than daycare, I attended school full-time, and worked full-time. Oh, and I was 17 years old when I started. I have NO idea how I got through it all, other than youth. I would love to tell you that I had mad time management skills, but that would be a lie. By the time I graduated, my son was starting kindergarten and I was starting my first REAL job — as an insurance agent.
WHAT?!?!
Yep.
Entry level chemists made less than insurance agents at the time. And at that point in my life, it was all about those dollars. By then, I had my second child, was married to a man who wouldn’t work, and I had to take care of my family. Career building was not on my resume. Bringing in a steady paycheck was the order of the day.
My second time in college, I enjoyed every moment of it. I attended online. I learned a lot about using programs I thought I knew a lot about before, and really didn’t. If I didn’t get anything else out of the time, which I did, the books that were required reading were worth it. It was a completely different experience, simply because I was not stressed with raising children, a bad relationship, or financial troubles. In short, I was happy.
I say all of this to say a few things. I live in a town where we have the highest educated waiter/tresses around. They can make more money waiting tables than in their educated field. Scary? Not really. Don’t let society tell you that you have to have a college degree in order to be successful. If that’s what you want to do, then by all means, do it. If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or a teacher, then you’re going to need a degree. But if none of those things appeal to you, then don’t rack up a shit ton of student loans just to be able to say “I have a college degree”.
I have a brother who doesn’t have a degree in anything, other than life experience. He is a Veteran. Since leaving the military, he has worked as an independent contractor for the federal government, taught himself forensic computing, and is now the head of a major cyber security company in D.C. His division has been known to pay interns (yes, interns) six figures. I’m talking about kids, that are still in high school, as long as they show promise in this field. Seventeen year old kids. No degree, not even a high school diploma, yet. These kids are self-taught as well and learn the rest on the job. Some of them go on to college and learn more, but the majority of them just stay on with the company and learn as they go. For a lot of them, money is their motivator, and that’s great. For them. For some of them, it’s the love of what they do. The chase. Catching someone trying to get in that firewall. They are happy.
In today’s world, especially in the United States, we all know you have to have money in order to survive and even thrive. But you don’t have to suffer in the process and do something you hate. Find what you love, even if you’re beyond the “normal” time frame in doing so. Remember what you said you wanted to be when you grew up and if feasible, make it happen. College degree or not. I may not be in a classroom each day, teaching the next generation, but I do what I can. And that makes me happy.
I have a brother who doesn’t have a degree in anything, other than life experience. He is a Veteran. Since leaving the military, he has worked as an independent contractor for the federal government, taught himself forensic computing, and is now the head of a major cyber security company in D.C. His division has been known to pay interns (yes, interns) six figures. I’m talking about kids, that are still in high school, as long as they show promise in this field. Seventeen year old kids. No degree, not even a high school diploma, yet. These kids are self-taught as well and learn the rest on the job. Some of them go on to college and learn more, but the majority of them just stay on with the company and learn as they go. For a lot of them, money is their motivator, and that’s great. For them. For some of them, it’s the love of what they do. The chase. Catching someone trying to get in that firewall. They are happy.
In today’s world, especially in the United States, we all know you have to have money in order to survive and even thrive. But you don’t have to suffer in the process and do something you hate. Find what you love, even if you’re beyond the “normal” time frame in doing so. Remember what you said you wanted to be when you grew up and if feasible, make it happen. College degree or not. I may not be in a classroom each day, teaching the next generation, but I do what I can. And that makes me happy.
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