Why did you go to college/higher level education?

[HashiriyaS14]

You don't have to make a new post to quote multiple people....just edit your original post.

Don't make more than 1 post in a row in a given thread.

[frapjap]

You don't have to make a new post to quote multiple people....just edit your original post.

Don't make more than 1 post in a row in a given thread.

And down comes the hammer!!

[hsckris]

especially if i want to become a college professor one day!

Those who can, do. Those who can't....

Naw, I'm just messing with you. I strongly considered three careers, one of which was being a college professor. Ultimately I decided against it, but I think it can be an excellent career depending on where you teach, how tenure works at that school, etc.

[Drift Machine]

Where else are you going to find thousands of attractive women between the ages of 18 - 24 who are just achin' for a good time.

[VMP]

okay.... so why is "Health Insurance" not part of this survey?

[Red coupe]

I went to JC because that's just what you do...haven't quit because of money and went into engineering to further my cognitive thingy.So I voted for the last one because it would have been a lot easier and quicker to just get a business/econ degree or whatever.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I'll offer an alternative viewpoint.

But first I'd like to comment on the actual subject of Looney's original post here:College is the LAST place I'd turn to acquire a "meaningful philosophy of life." I already have a "meaningful philosophy of life," thank you very much.

Now, I'm sure any of you who have met me in person can guess what's in store for this post...

I went to college for a couple years for the typical reasons: it's what you're "supposed" to do , my parents wanted me to.

TERRIBLE REASONS.

I went for someone else, not for me. And therein lies the problem. If I'd been doing it for me, I wouldn't have gone.

I despise school. Hate it with a passion. All the by-the-book "education" that has nothing to do with learning and everything to do with getting little pieces of paper.

Personally, I couldn't possibly care less about little pieces of paper. I'm a part of what seems to be an ever-dwindling minority. My desire isn't to just "finish school" or "get a degree." All of that is completely meaningless to me.I actually have a desire to LEARN. And the fact is, that's not something that I've come to associate with school. Only on very rare occasions have I ever learned anything in school. And those rare occasions usually involved teachers/instructors who completely ignored what they were "supposed" to be doing so they could teach us something.

School is a waste, and nothing more. It is a waste of money. It is a waste of time. And perhaps worst of all, it is a waste of effort.

Being a fairly contented person, I could be happy living in a tiny house with just my mind to keep my entertained. So I have no real desire to make lots of money. I don't make much but I make enough to keep me very happy. So I don't need to go to school to be able to be wealthy.

And so, as you can see, college/university/school has nothing to offer me. I have nothing to gain from it. I've gotten by the last 23 years learning anything I desire of my own accord. I don't need classrooms, teachers, or tuitions for that.

Then comes another factor (VMP's post above brought it up, though I'm not sure this is what she meant).Insurance. Right now I've got health insurance, dental insurance, etc. because I work full time. I certainly won't be getting anywhere in school part time, and full time a school AND work isn't humanly possible (people who do it are massochists). But I'm certainly not going to sacrifice my full-time-employment benefits so I can go to school and waste my time and my (and/or my parents') money and my effort to gain nothing.

The educational system needs a serious revamp. Little pieces of paper with degree certifications on them have become the point, when the point SHOULD be to LEARN the things that those little pieces of paper represent.

I have no patience and no tolerance for such a backward system.

[Encryptshun]

With respect to all posts that came first, I am a big proponent of higher education. It is my 4 years of college and 3 years of Graduate school that allowed me to become the windbag I am today.

But seriously, folks...

I'm all for street-smarts -- the kind of grass-roots intelligence you just can't get in a classroom. So many "academics" are educated idiots...they have all the book-smarts in the world but they just can't apply them to real situations outside their own ivory towers. For me, the real challenge and appeal I saw in higher education was walking that balance between academic knowledge and real-world application. In academia, it's referred to as interdisciplinarianism -- and it's what Liberal Arts schools (you know, the ones with bell towers and patchouli-smelling hippies everywhere) do better than anything else.

I majored in English (might as well play to my strengths, and I had some prior experience dabbling in my native tongue) but I took all the math, science, art and history courses I could take and still graduate on time. I took, depending on whether I was working part-time or full-time, 17 - 24 hours per semester and graduated with my B.A. in 7 semesters with 16 more credit hours earned than I needed to graduate. I then went on immediately to work on my Master's Degree, teaching a 1/2 class load (2 classes per semester) for the last 2 of the 3 years in my program, and working full-time at Wal-Mart developing pictures the first year.

I don't say this to brag. I would not have been able to do that if I was studying a "real" subject (engineering, pre-med, pre-law, etc.). However, my approach allowed me to see what's behind the curtain of everyday life, and that's what I wanted. I wanted context for my experiences. When I opened a book, saw a movie, read the paper, went to a gallery, examined the lines of an automobile, sat enrapt by a piece of music or watched the space shuttle take off, I wanted to be able to comprehend and appreciate the centuries of progress that allowed this little miracle of human endeavor to be possible.

I'm not so egocentric as to think that I "get" every nuance, every microcosm, every inherent analog for what I observe in daily life, but I do like to think that things have a deeper meaning for me because of my education. It enriches my existence. It allows me to be cynical about things that are, frankly, boorish and twee; it also sparks my imagination and passion regarding acts and creations that are truly vanguard.

I work in an office. I'm pretty much a corporate drone now. I really don't have much practical use for my training in Composition, Literature, and Literary Criticism (other than writing posts on NICO and doing some really kick-*** PowerPoint decks), but I didn't get my education so I could make a lot of money. I'm pretty damned lucky that "Do you want fries with that?" isn't a part of my daily lexicon. What I am grateful for is that when I hear something on the news or overhear a comment in my office, I can think to myself "Huh. That's a lot like..." and make a connection to something I learned way back when (I'm 13 years gone from college at this point). I can then share this tiny bit of knowledge and maybe bring a little true understanding to my audience. And, in doing so, to myself.

[gniknave]

With the exception of doctors, surgeons, dentists, professors etc. (or anything else that requires quite an extensive education to become), I think a degree should be handed out after getting so many years of real work experience, not just through going to college. It seems like a lot of empolyers would back me on that because a lot of them pass on people straight out of college and go after the people with real work experience.

[sanioll]

I'll offer an alternative viewpoint.

But first I'd like to comment on the actual subject of Looney's original post here:College is the LAST place I'd turn to acquire a "meaningful philosophy of life." I already have a "meaningful philosophy of life," thank you very much.

Now, I'm sure any of you who have met me in person can guess what's in store for this post...

I went to college for a couple years for the typical reasons: it's what you're "supposed" to do , my parents wanted me to.

TERRIBLE REASONS.

I went for someone else, not for me. And therein lies the problem. If I'd been doing it for me, I wouldn't have gone.

I despise school. Hate it with a passion. All the by-the-book "education" that has nothing to do with learning and everything to do with getting little pieces of paper.

Personally, I couldn't possibly care less about little pieces of paper. I'm a part of what seems to be an ever-dwindling minority. My desire isn't to just "finish school" or "get a degree." All of that is completely meaningless to me.I actually have a desire to LEARN. And the fact is, that's not something that I've come to associate with school. Only on very rare occasions have I ever learned anything in school. And those rare occasions usually involved teachers/instructors who completely ignored what they were "supposed" to be doing so they could teach us something.

School is a waste, and nothing more. It is a waste of money. It is a waste of time. And perhaps worst of all, it is a waste of effort.

Being a fairly contented person, I could be happy living in a tiny house with just my mind to keep my entertained. So I have no real desire to make lots of money. I don't make much but I make enough to keep me very happy. So I don't need to go to school to be able to be wealthy.

And so, as you can see, college/university/school has nothing to offer me. I have nothing to gain from it. I've gotten by the last 23 years learning anything I desire of my own accord. I don't need classrooms, teachers, or tuitions for that.

Then comes another factor (VMP's post above brought it up, though I'm not sure this is what she meant).Insurance. Right now I've got health insurance, dental insurance, etc. because I work full time. I certainly won't be getting anywhere in school part time, and full time a school AND work isn't humanly possible (people who do it are massochists). But I'm certainly not going to sacrifice my full-time-employment benefits so I can go to school and waste my time and my (and/or my parents') money and my effort to gain nothing.

The educational system needs a serious revamp. Little pieces of paper with degree certifications on them have become the point, when the point SHOULD be to LEARN the things that those little pieces of paper represent.

I have no patience and no tolerance for such a backward system.

MoD, you are isolating yourself (or already isolated) from society. Why do I say this? Because I care, as one human being to another. And also, I've been there, and now trying to improve every aspect of my life. It does not matter who you are, or what you look like, because good personality (I meant faking good personality, and making others feel good) goes a long way. Life is just a system; make it work, especially to your advantage.

You need a good education! Never experienced it, so you are afraid of it. You are not going to be young and energetic for too long. Trust me. I am 26 and already seen the limits of my brain's capability, and it is diminishing.

Just graduated, and... having to come from a really difficult 5 years of college with working at nights to pay for my education, and suddenly having to make lots of money feels good. Problem is that your expectation raises up to that level of spending, and now you want more and more. Just another human with unlimited wants and needs.

Here is the thing, I already know how long will I live (how long willing to live? ), how much money will I retire with, (assuming steady curve of life) and truth to be told, it is sad.

I mean the other day, I wrote a 401K calculator(code), which took into account everything possible, historic inflation, salary increase+inflation adjustment, interest, and estimated my retirement fund at the age of retirement. Numbers did not reflect my expectations. I just wish that I graduated couple years ago, and started investing, because it would make a huge difference.

Long story short, the more knowledgeable you are, the less you enjoy life(you see what future holds), but you have more control over stuff, because you are the one who has to think, and plan things. You look ahead and the future looks very scary, unless everything is planned and taken care of.

My advise, get at least a bachelors degree in a good field. Otherwise you are going to end up becoming a blue collar worker. Years are going away. I mean I just blink, literally blink, and bam six months are gone by. It is amazing! Every Christmas coming feels like 2 months, its like 2 months gone by, and hello it is the end of the year.

Well get your butt to school now, choose a degree that is in demand. Something difficult. You know one thing that saddens me is that I came to US at an age of 17. If I was born in the states and given the knowledge I have now at an earlier age, I would have been very educated, secure, happy and wealthy by this time.
Modified by sanioll at 1:04 AM 4/11/2008

[numbnuts240]

i'm with MiisterofDOOM on this one. i graduated high school ranked third in my class (would have been valedictorian but i chose to work after school instead of getting involved in activities). i had the highest SAT scores of my graduating class. everyone just expected me to go to college, and i assumed that that was what i was supposed to do. i made it a year and a half before i decided that i hated school. i used to like it, but college just wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, this is all my own personal opinion btw. so i came abck home, worked a couple b.s. jobs until i got an offer from the company that i now work for. august will mark the second year that i have worked here. i can store my car for the winter months because last april my boss gave me a 2006 F-150 to drive around. i have made a decent amount of money for this company and that amount will only grow as the years pass by. so here i am now, 22 years old and i just closed on my first house a few weeks ago, no help, all by myself. i still go out and have a good time, it's all about having common sense and personal management skills. from going to meetings with my boss i learned a couple of things:1. it is no longer what you know, it's who you know2. the ability to b.s. others can get you very far lol (my boss is the ultimate b.s. artist. btw he never went to high school and he's a millionaire, as well as one of my role models.)anytime anyone asks me about college, i say two things. school is for suckers, read: it's not for everyone. then i tell them that it was the most expensive party ever. if i could have started doing what i do now right out of high school, there would be a car a hell of a lot nicer than my 13 year old nissan sitting in my driveway. college isn't the answer for everybody.

[MaxFNPower]

Ya I have to side with the Vort on this one. Knowledge > Paper I got an applied science degree, so all I had to do was go through 5 credit ours of BS, which I took during the summer or at night, so the BS to learning levels were much better.

But I'm taking the last college class I may be able to ever take. I need a good full time job, Period. I've ran out of money and time.

Anyway, it's better that way, I suppose. I do like learning, I have projects now instead of hobbies, I like them better.

[krimsonviper]

Well I'm putting down for money. MoD is correct in his statements though. I mean college is nothing more than a big community, but the main objective isnt for people to get educated for high paying jobs, its to make the people in power feel better by making us go through the same BS hoops they did to get to their type of status. Havent you noticed some of the classes you're taking, have nothing to do with your major? Its to mess with you and waste your time and money, thats all. Utter B.S, but you need to go through it in order to get that job

[nametakennow]

There's more to college than the slips of paper.

I'm about to finish up my second year here (GA Tech), and I've been through all the stages a lot of you guys describe - inability to concentrate, dislike for "getting pieces of paper" rather than learning, etc. In fact, I've gotten so fed up, I've decided to get out of here early.

So I've put together a plan to graduate next fall. Technically that's only one semester ahead of when I was supposed to, but here most people take 5 years, and on top of that I'll take one semester to intern (on top of my job during school) and I've changed majors twice.

It's all a matter of sitting down and thinking about where you want to be career-wise. The VAST majority of people out there don't end up doing what their "piece of paper" says. Instead, it's a stepping stone to getting somewhere else.

College is about networking. It's about finding the right people, learning about the job market, and making use of those resources to find a job you genuinely enjoy.

And yes, it's expensive, and yes, there are classes that will annoy you. Statistically, the entry-level classes to ANY major are the ones that turn people off the most because they're obnoxious and seemingly pointless.

However, the resources you gain and the ability to adapt to situations (an ability that you're basically forced to develop) are what will get you out of entry-level positions and up the food chain.

I know a lot of you will say "I'm resourceful now," I know I did, but the college experience has honed that skill even further. Yes, you could say that's part of getting older/wiser, and it is, but, again, the college environment enhances this growth.

I don't have very good grades. I hate some of my classes. In spite of that I keep on truckin' because I keep meeting people and finding connections I didn't know I had, and that's way more useful than the "piece of paper."

[aquaman]

7yrs in dead end part time retail job == SUXOR Pay

3yrs College + No Life + Poverty == CS Degree + Much better pay + Benefits + paid vacation + money for the 240!

Pretty easy math. Yay higher education.

Don't get me wrong I thing a good all around education helps to build a well balanced individual, but it's hard to be well balance when you can't make ends meet.