Higher Education

Since i was a little kid, i was always told that i needed to go to college, i needed a degree to make a decent living as an adult. I believed it, i graduated high school and i went to college. I got my bachelors degree in English. (No I don't want to be a teacher). I wasn't the best students, average. I knew that i was never going to be at the top of my class and when i graduated i was glad to be done.

Done with teachers, classes, notes, tests, papers and homework. I was ready to start my “adult” life, to find a job and really start living. How naive i was. I can't believe how utterly naive i was, one of my best friends from childhood had graduated two years before me and i watched her struggle to find a job in her field, but i thought that will never happen to me. Everyone thinks that bad things will never happen to them until it does.

When she finally found a job, it wasn’t in her field, not even close. Before and after graduation I had been looking for jobs in my field, I was having little luck. There are jobs out there but what i found was that ever job i was applying for wanted at least 2 years of experience, which i didn't have. I think that's the problem that most millennial's are finding the jobs are there but they want a level of experience that is unavailable to us without first being hired with no experience.

After graduation i struggled to find a job even remotely in my field, finally i caved and got a serving job. This job has served me very well, within 3 months of working there, i was promoted to shift leader. Which is a key hold manager position, it's introduced me to a lot more opportunities than i would have otherwise, however nothing i'm doing now is related to my degree.

It almost feels like a waste of time and money for me to have gotten that degree. In college i developed an interest in politics and law. It's only grown since i've graduated. In a fit of restlessness i applied to Graduate school for a political science degree. Ever since i applied and got in, i've been wondering is higher education really worth it? Every adult i've ever asked says yes, it will open doors for you. In my limited experience i've never seen that it really does open doors.

I’ve been wrestling with the decision on whether to get my masters degree or to wait or to just never do it. I still don’t have a clear decision. A lot of it depends on money, which is harder and harder to get and keep. Join in the discussion, do you think higher education is worth it?