Everybody says that college is the happiest time of their life. If that is your definition of everybody, then you are not talking to enough people. Plenty of people have had success in their lives without the help of a "higher education." However, that fact is not something to fall back on. It is obviously true that most people who do not have a college degree end up working a minimum wage job for practically their entire life, if they can even get a job. In the world we live in today, more and more jobs are requiring you to have a bachelor's degree. But how much sense does that actually make?
According to The Washington Post, 65 percent of job posts require a college degree, but only 19 percent of the executives hiring those people actually have degrees themselves. There may only be two numbers there, but apparently math is hard because that does not add up. It is no secret that the generation before our new college grads did not have the same pressure to go to school. But that was because you made your way in life by actually going outside and proving to people that you were worth something. Now, employers think they know all about you before you even walk in the door because of the list of grades dating back to when you were a twinkle in your father's eye. Nostalgia may be the enemy of logical comparison, but facts are for the most part facts.
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I asked my friends why they went to school the other day, and I was not exactly happy to hear what they had to say. "To get good grades, and get through it so that I can get a job." Sounds reasonable. But then where was the learning aspect in all of this? "You don't go to school to learn, you go so that you can eventually get a job that you might not hate." Inspiring. Keep in mind, if you are OK with just getting a degree for the sake of just supporting yourself or a family, then more power to you. But to say that the point of school (the place we go to learn) is no longer about learning? How can we still call this higher education? The definition has definitely changed from the beginning of this article, and it has only been three paragraphs of what is somewhat reliable information. How can we claim to want to better a new generation by harassing them to put themselves into thousands of dollars of debt with minimum payout.
In the end, do what is right for you. That sounds cliché but that is just because it is true. If you are happy with a minimum wage job, awesome, if you think you can make it big on just your own ingenuity and resources, even better. If you end up getting a job that you may not like just to support your family, I am sure they will be eternally grateful, and if you like that job, fantastic! No matter how huge and overwhelming the pressure of going to college is, it is just another road to go down, and whether or not you do, you can always go back.
