Education

I think Bill Maher is a comic genius.  And he swears a lot, which I can do as well but am not so comfortable with using in written form.  One of my favourite quotes of all time belongs to him : "Stop living your life around people who don't get the joke;  (F) them if they don't get the joke." And then I went here...

SO for the past four years, I have slaved (mostly) over assignments and worked my butt off (even cried) to finish by BA.  I'm pretty pleased with (even proud of) this accomplishment.  A few weeks ago (could be months, possibly days, I'm just guessing) I saw a Facebook post with a graduate in cap and gown that read: Just because you can do what you're told and think what they tell you to think, you think you're better than me??"  And I was crushed.  And I also now understand what it means to believe something like that because I once thought the same thing (I so did).

Do I feel smarter than before I went back to school?  Not really.  I definitely learned a lot of things I did not know before, so I have attained knowledge, but am I smarter?  If that's what it means to you, yes. I don't feel smarter though. Do I think I'm better than anyone who didn't pursue a post-secondary education?  Better than them at what?  I would like to think I can do some mean research and analysis but if you have the heart and mind for it (and access to the internet, library, facts and all that) then anyone else can do it too.  Writing?  There are probably too many people for me to count who managed to write successfully without going. So what's the big deal? I'm getting to that.

In addition to the student thing, I gave presentations to students and adults about planning for post-secondary.  My message was simple, at first.  Post-secondary opens doors for you.  I was aiming for law school and I couldn't get in there without an undergrad degree so that was one of the opportunities post-secondary offered that I could not have without.  After each presentation the participants did a survey; in part for accountability (we were there, working) and in part to see what they thought of our presentation.  One student replied: I didn't like the way she made me feel I couldn't be successful without post-secondary education. Touche.

Sometimes you have to balance your goal (motivate people to attend post-secondary) with reality (um, not every successful person has a post-secondary education).  For subsequent presentations I added a story about a young man who went to Harvard and then stopped going because he accomplished something other than attaining a degree: he built a little website called Facebook.  Did he need the education to be successful? Obviously not because last I heard he was doing alright with his little venture.  Perhaps what he needed, and what he got, was an experience; an idea.  Would he have thought of it without the experience? Maybe.  Maybe not.  Did this experience make him more (or less) accomplished than his counterparts who graduated? I think those Harvard Alumni have a decent chance at being successful (or not, but probably) as well.

To be fair, there are definitely some people who look down on those who did not obtain some sort of post-secondary education and others who look down on those who did not obtain a specific type of post-secondary education.  Why is that?  Here are my best guesses:

• It takes a great deal of commitment to get an education (I didn't finish my degree the first time around and I did finish the second time - I can attest to the difference in my commitment levels)
• In locations other than Alberta (read: oilfield), a post-secondary education offers more opportunity for work
• A post-secondary education offers better opportunity for advancement (many companies nowadays will limit the advancement, no matter how experienced or competent, of workers based on their education level. My Dad topped out after being with the only company he ever worked for after 20-25 years.  He worked with them until he retired knowing he would never see another promotion.)
• For certain occupations you just need specialized training (If you have the choice of becoming the next new patient of Mr. X, who is just as smart, if not smarter than Dr. Y, but did not go to medical school - or Dr. Y, who put in his time and learned about that stuff... who are you going to sign up with?)

Does this mean that you cannot be successful without a post-secondary education (refer to that story about the young Zuckerberg fellow)?  Obviously not.  Does that mean you lack the characteristics I described above (see Dad's story)? Definitely not, (but I did).  Does it mean you can't be a successful physician?  I think there actually is a law against that, so yes, yes it does... but I digress.  Personally, I think everyone would benefit from a post-secondary education - some of that is because I spent four years telling people that for my job - but I also had a great time; I made wonderful friends, I had a great experience, I had some fun - I enjoyed it.  Do I think of those who didn't put themselves through the agony (sometimes) I did? Hell no.... ah yes, the point.

It was a joke.  It was funny because, to a lot of people, it has a ring of truth to it.  You don't have to have a doctorate degree or a high school diploma to make the world a better place.  You don't have to sit through seemingly endless hours of lectures of university level biochemistry when you think you will never find a use for it (unless it's a breadth requirement).  But I hope you will bear in mind that everyone does or does not do things for a reason.  Hopefully your reason is not only worth bragging about but shows the world that you had the best interests of those less fortunate in mind when you made your decision.