Don’t underestimate going to college
With the cost of university being at an all time high in the US (and in many other countries) and the spread on social networks that you can become a millionaire by being an influencer, a bitcoin miner or a YouTube celebrity, I see many young people underestimating the value of college.
I’ve often argued that what you learn in college for computer sciences is not what you use in software engineering but it doesn’t mean college is useless:
- It’s a good transition from your parents to the real world – it is likely the first time you will live by yourself so you can learn to independently handle a bunch of things (things like chore, doing taxes, paying bills etc.)
- It’s a good social environment – it is much easier to meet friends in college than in a work environment. Friendships from college tend to stick for a long time because they are genuine and organic – you end up hanging out with people with similar interests/values.
- You have time to discover more about yourself because you are exposed to more culture, more hobbies and more activities, but also because you have less pressure from your parents to fit in a standard academic path. This is when you become your own person.
- Last but not least, you learn to think. You may not learn how to deploy a Kubernetes cluster, but you will learn how to think about problems, how to extrapolate from your knowledge and how to articulate your thoughts. So as much as you may not use your algebra knowledge at work, the skills you develop from studying algebra will be used.
I personally graduated with 2 masters after about 7.5 years of studying – which is quite a long time, but I have zero regrets about it. I had so much fun traveling around the world, I met so many amazing people and I learned so much about myself/others that I would do it all over again if I could.
I’m not saying everyone should do a PhD or that everyone has to go to college, but you shouldn’t underestimate the value of going to college. Activate to view larger image,