Some think college students would be better off without a degree — columnist Neelam Khan weighs in.
There are no guarantees of a good life. We all know that. There are risks we have to take and a series of trials and tribulations that get us to a somewhat content life we strive for. But would you say that of all the things to make you successful and happy, getting a degree would be one of them?
Let’s say you want the “white picket fence” life. Or maybe you want to live in the city chasing after your dreams. Perhaps you want to save the world. Could you get that life without going to college?
Unfortunately, you have a slim chance. According to research done by Georgetown University, there’s a one out of seven chance that you may out-earn a college graduate having a high school diploma or less. So college is important to get a job, and get money right? If you don’t go to college, you probably won’t get a livable salary?
This is one topic that really bursts my bubble. Seriously. I have contemplated for a long time whether I really like or care for college, but I know I need it for my future career. I love learning, and I believe education is priceless. Which is why I find it disturbing how much our society banks on spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on schooling which may or may not help our employment.
We’re just kids, with enormous amounts of student loans, trying to get ready for the future economy the generation raising us destroyed. How can that be fair? We’re thrown into this pit of fire and our parents say, “Good luck!” Unless of course your parents are helping pay for college, which still sucks for them considering they didn’t have as expensive of tuition to pay when they were our age (if they went to college that is). Or unless your parents are dead.
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Typical bachelor degrees are four years, from when you’re approximately 18 to 22. Those are prime years! When you do the most growing and learning about who you are and what you want! Do you think by being at an institution with limited majors and people to learn from, you could learn all that? And be happy 20 years from now?
Think of everything you could be doing. You could be traveling to places you’ve never been, meeting fascinating or really terrible people. You could be working as a teller at a bank, or a Wendy’s, saving up your money and probably have more saved up than a recent college grad. You could be interning, or shadowing a person you want to be one day, building experience in your field. And maybe, just maybe, you could be doing what you’ve always wanted. But statistically, it’s not likely. And that’s so sad. I would love to not waste my prime years at a money-stealing institution, but this is the life I have to live to accept. College education is now a standard of success. Being in debt is a norm.
But what of learning and education amid this melodramatic depiction of college? Well, it’s still there. It’s just really pimped out now.
Nevertheless, going to college is an experience we’re fortunate to have. It may make you poor, but it’s not a waste. You’ll be getting paid twice what you would without a degree, I hate to admit. And you will learn about yourself. But never think that because you’re going to college, you are better than someone who’s not. Never think that you are guaranteed a career either, because you’re not. And never, I mean never, become a dean of a university and take a raise and ask for a bigger house using your students’ tuition money. Just be thankful for the experience, and make that debt count for something.
Neelam Khan is a sophomore studying screenwriting and producing. Do you think college is a waste of time? Email her at nk852613@ohio.edu.
