Bachelor’s Degree Addiction
Three seconds to think, GO! You graduated high school, now what? College! Ok, get a bachelor’s degree. Times up. You’re in college… but so is everybody else. Hmm, interesting.
Let’s begin here. “They” have been promoting the necessity of going to college so well that the thought is second nature. Ask any child, maybe 10 years and up, what do you do after high school and it’s likely to be the same answer our elders have- get a degree. It says, in so many words, that you can’t be taken seriously in this world without one. So many entry level positions that are easily mastered with maybe a week or two of on-the-job training are requiring these four-year degrees. Guess who eats it all up? We do. We accept this for law, and we pass up all the other opportunities out there. We have associate degrees, trade degrees, certifications, licensures, etc. There are more ways to survive than four-year degrees. These are pursued, sure, but they’re like the ugly friends in the group- they don’t get that much attention.
Making yourself go to college (and finishing), has its perks for sure, but at what risks? How will you pay for this degree? Is this option suitable for different lifestyles and family sizes? What was your mental health like before and after “higher-ed”? Will you finish? Wh-
* BREAKING NEWS: BACHELOR’S DEGREES ARE BEING VIEWED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE*
Then there’s that. This part is what kills us. We are foraging for these degrees so frequently that it has become the new norm and employers aren’t impressed. You start to stand out less and your goal has become their minimum expectation of you. Just when you thought you had “surviving” figured out. So, back to the biggest question we started with: now what?
How do we calm a person from fearing they won’t be good enough without a bachelor’s? Do we need policy change? Do we need to change high schools as an institution? Do we change higher education? (This is a separate conversation by itself)
What does no fear and no fret look like for you?