All This For A Piece of Paper

I am not one to go against the value of a good education but recently I had been thinking about what the point is of getting an education, and more specifically a university degree. It is weird how society puts such a high value on a piece of paper that you get after years of hard work and toil! As some of you might, or might not know, I graduated on the 17^th of April. And while I was very happy to be finally walking on stage to receive a piece of paper (that probably cost the university 20 cents to make) wearing ridiculous robes and a totally impractical hat, I couldn’t help but ask myself if this was worth the 20000 plus grand spent.

I really battled myself over this one… As most of you know, I’ve been now working in my first graduate job for about two months now and I have to say everyday I have been learning something new. The sad thing is I use very little of the knowledge I learnt from uni. So I have to wonder what the point is if I could have come straight from high school into my current position and just learnt on the job from there. Is there a need for people with degrees and does the fact that you have a degree make you a better option than someone without one?

Well… I have to admit that a degree is no way to judge someone in terms of ability and suitability, for some jobs. Meanwhile having a degree is a powerful tool. While the knowledge you gain from uni may or may not help you in your future career it is still invaluable. You see, the thing I learnt about university is that it is not so much about all the knowledge you acquire but, it is about how you think. Universities breed thinkers, people willing to challenge status quo. University is not there to fill your mind with other people’s options but rather teach you to develop your own. Not only through lectures and tutorials but through intellectual interaction with your peers.

This is what I valued about uni. All the different people I met from different culture, nations, religions and backgrounds. That is something many people who didn’t go to uni didn’t get the pleasure of experiencing because many get caught up in their small worlds and never venture out from there. University life is a world of its own where different worlds clash and seamlessly blend into one. Uni is more than assignments, tests, lectures, exams and holidays, it’s a learning and growing experience! I guess if you ask me now, in retrospect, whether I thought uni was worth it, I’d probably simply say, “It was the best time of my life!”