{"id":4340,"date":"2009-12-03T14:46:30","date_gmt":"2009-12-03T18:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/UpbeaT\/?p=4340"},"modified":"2009-12-03T14:46:30","modified_gmt":"2009-12-03T18:46:30","slug":"the-value-of-a-bachelors-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2009\/12\/03\/the-value-of-a-bachelors-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"The value of a bachelor’s degree"},"content":{"rendered":"Now in my fourth and last year of undergrad, I look around me and see some people I know getting into professional schools, like medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, while others decide to continue their education in graduate school for either a master's degree or PhD. And the rest? Nervous, depressed and unsure of what to do next.\n\nWhile I hardly ever hear the first two groups complaining about and questioning the value of their bachelor's degrees, the last group \u2014 who are the majority \u2014 wonder why they are here:\n\n\"What's the value behind my education, when I'm graduating with thousands of dollars in debt, with no real employment prospect in sight?\"\n\n\"A bachelor's degree is a scam, a rip-off.\"\n\n\"Why did I decide to go to university in the first place? I should've gone to community college or the trades to learn some practical skills that will actually help me find a job.\"\n\nA friend even told me about this news segment<\/a> from ABC's 20\/20. It aired this past January. Thanks for the encouragement, ABC. Thanks a whole lot.\n\nDon't you think this is just a tad bit frightening? Especially to a BSc candidate like myself who is actually graduating <\/em>in the middle of a severe economic downturn? It seems that the world has lost its faith in those holding bachelor's degrees. It's blasting this message full-throttle: A bachelor's degree is worth nothing. Your time, effort and money spent are worth nothing. You made a huge mistake. Now you pay for it by being an unrecognized and unemployed member of society, while the school pockets your money.<\/em>\n\nThe saddest part is, regardless of whether students are actually being influenced by the media, many are nevertheless bitter about their decision to get a bachelor's degree. On the internet, there are angry Facebook statuses and hopeless Twitter updates, not to mention pages and pages of personal blogs displaying students' deep anguish and disappointment.\n\nStill, despite the seeming lack of faith from society and the reality of question marks regarding my own post-grad life, I don't regret my education. I can't say that these past few years have been a breeze, and I can't promise you that I'll make good money after I graduate in June, but if I could go back and choose again whether to do it, I would say yes (and I don't say this lightly, especially after all the GPA-associated horrors of the past few years).\n\nDespite the occasional complaining and sometimes tear-jerking stress, I do like it here. I like that my peers are overwhelmingly talented and intelligent in their own unique ways, so that there's always someone to look up to and learn from. I like that my professors are brilliant minds and experts in their fields, so I know I'm learning from the best. I like that there are always opportunities on campus to do things<\/em>, whether it's for personal enjoyment (like Hart House's Five Buck Lunches) or for academic enrichment outside the classroom (like the recent Gairdner lecture series<\/a>, where I shook hands with one of this year's Nobel Prize laureates, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn<\/a>). I like that even though I am just a student, I have the means, resources and support to make my voice heard and make a difference. Above all, though, there's one thing that makes academia so very attractive: the omnipresent, heavy air of ideas <\/em>that we all breathe. It's refreshing and stimulating.\n\nI think that anyone who is doubting the value of an undergraduate education \u2014 or in fact, any <\/em>type of education \u2014 should think long and hard about these two questions: What, according to my personal beliefs, is the value of education? And what is my <\/em>purpose in choosing to pursue this education?\n\nI feel terrible for those who think that their undergraduate education has been a waste of time. Clearly, these people see school as a means to an end, equating a bachelor's degree with a glorious job of some sort, which is (naively) associated with higher earnings. This is some seriously misguided thinking, my friends. For one thing, if the dominant purpose of education were simply to learn a set of specific hands-on, employable skills, then not only would the centuries of knowledge accumulated by scholars trail off into extinction, but we'd all just become machines that are set to operate 40 hours a week or more, simply fulfilling the need to survive. There would have been no development of vaccines, no thinkers developing welfare programs for the underprivileged, and no one to preserve and write canonical literature, because nobody would grasp its importance and contributions to humanity.\n\nSimply put, your views on education are directly proportional to what kind of person you aspire to become, and are linked to your definition of success. If you believe, deep down, that you'd be satisfied just having a bunch of skills so you could find a job and make a decent living, then I agree with you: your university has probably ripped you off very badly. But if you believe in the slightest way that there is more to life than just having an income, then by obtaining your bachelor's degree you've set yourself up to eventually reach a level of fulfillment. True, a bachelor's degree probably isn't a direct ticket to the good life you've always dreamed about, but in the majority of cases it's an appropriate and necessary start. *\n\nOur generation \u2014 Generation Y \u2014 is defined <\/em>by instant gratification. We want it now and we want it fast. As a result, the need to reach glory becomes so consuming that we become impatient with the chores and details. Starting from the bottom and making our way up, bit by bit, can therefore be a daunting task, because anything less than the top feels pointless. However, if you realize this pitfall early in the game (like now), you are still in a good position to go far. Remember to be patient, and take one small step after another. One day, you'll look back and realize that your bachelor's degree, like many other steps you've taken along the way to reach the top, was worth it.\n\n- Lucy\n\n* I know. Maybe you are in desperate need of a higher GPA and lower debt. Maybe what I've said just seems like flowery words that don't actually help with your current situation. I understand how tough life can be, but I believe that it's also fair. Nothing is hopeless \u2014 if you are doing badly in school, it doesn't mean that you'll necessarily graduate with a ton of debt and no future. My mom always tells me that studying to get good grades is the one thing in life that's actually easy to do, and it's true. Think about everything you'll have to deal with once you get out of academia \u2014 amidst the relationships and politics, success becomes entangled with uncertainty. So don't give up. Accomplishing the GPA you want is a doable task. Don't let this one thing ruin the education that you've worked so hard to obtain in the first place.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\nNow in my fourth and last year of undergrad, I look around me and see some people I know getting into professional schools, like medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, while others decide to continue their education in graduate school for either…\n<\/div>
Continue reading “The value of a bachelor’s degree”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
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