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Originally Posted by duga
I completely disagree with this. The notion that you have to pursue a career in the same field of study as your degree is absurd, but not the notion that you need one. You definitely need one, unless you hope to work a pay by the hour job the rest of your life. The only way I see around it is if you have massive networking skills, or you just have a friend that gets you a job (even then they will tell you to get a degree most of the time). A degree these days is little more than showing you are willing to work hard enough to get one, but it is still basically an essential.
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^absolutely agreed.
what's on your piece of paper doesn't matter. the fact that you can put up with the bureaucratic BS necessary to obtain that piece of paper DOES.
on its own, i agree, a Bachelor's degree is worthless, it's a great starting point though if you've got a clear focus and are able to lay out a worthwhile path to follow.
as for the comment about sticking to an English major if you have no other plans... what is that actually worth on its own? how is it not just another 4 years of high school? it's like the guy i work with who has a degree in French and Spanish who now works in a call center and uses absolutely none of that education. i asked him once if he had a plan to do something more with his degree like maybe a Master's in Communication (international translator would be a pretty kickass career i think) or maybe a Master's in Education and be one of the highly qualified teachers on the higher end of the payscale (in Canada teachers are, or at least, used to be, paid based on their overall level of education).
Quote:
Originally Posted by gogojessicat
well then what do you suggest we do? drop out and work a **** job until we decide oh **** I should have gone to college? that sounds like a waste of time to me.
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YES YES YES ABSOLUTELY YES!
it's not until you decide 'oh, geez! i should have gone to college', but rather, alright enough of this cubicle hell, i'm going to do
this instead. get an actual honest idea of what working for a living is like and you'll find that your interests and world views will change. plus you'll also be able to qualify as a 'mature' student. also, don't start a family if you plan on going back within the next few years. i dropped out of college the first time, went back to a lovely part time grocery store job on the ass end of nowhere before going back (twice) and decimating class after class once i had a clear focus of what i wanted to do (including 8 perfect grades during that 2nd program).
i run into so MANY people (and was one myself years ago) who act like because they have that fancy piece of paper and nice grades that they're somehow entitled to a better station in life. that's not the case at all anymore, at least not for the vast majority of people. like they'll somehow never have to change jobs once they land that first one with their degree and their genius will be recognized and they'll just be auto-promoted to a job specifically tailored just for them. those 8 hundreds i got? - padding from my dept. head to insure himself into a cushy job out of school based on our performance (it blew up in his face).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger
I think it's a shame that so many people seem to think that it's either collage/university or a life spent in pointless shitty jobs.
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i think colleges and universities are directly responsible for this type of propaganda being accepted as common knowledge. likely why there's an obscene demand for plumbers and other people who are willing to touch actual sh1t. also i've never worked in a call center that paid less than $10 an hour and required more than a high school education, hardly knee wrecking or back breaking. sure it might suck for 8 hours a day but that still leaves 16 for yourself.
also, even though i use personal examples nothing of this discussion is meant to be taken personally by anyone. no one should drop out of school based on a freaking thread on the internet. no one is attacking anyone's choices, simply pointing out varying perspectives that most people don't notice until they're well out of the doors of Academia.
and everything Pete said is gold.