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Recently I have found myself pondering over the issue of conventional education and degrees. Having completed my Masters degree in the much-admired engineering field, I find myself sitting at the bottom of the food chain, job hunting and wondering what the future holds. In the midst of all my misery, I read about a female billionaire who ditched the idea of conventional education, worked on an idea that revolutionized the way blood tests are conducted and simply made her way to the top….without a degree. Her story made me think of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson and the many other successful people in the world who did it their way- no degrees, just their dreams. It made me wonder.. what is more important? Pursuing a degree like billions of other people, or setting yourself apart and following your dreams
With the scarcity in white collar jobs, and the increasing rate of un-befitting employment, I have to ask if it will be worth it to use the money spent on a fancy university degree to build our dreams instead. Will people be happier following their dreams? I constantly meet so many unhappy people, working in what the world believes is the right career. Perhaps following our dreams may be more important, more liberating, more fulfilling.
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Demilade Fayemiwo is a scientist-turned-engineer, life coach (in training), writer, and as her friends call her, “blogger extraordinaire”.
She is a contributor on Musings of An Analytical Mind.
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Bharat Shah
November 15, 2014 — 11:37 pm
For my analytical mind, this is perhaps simpler decision for the 80-90%, and hard for the smaller 10% or so to make. Personally for me, while entrepreneurship is an appealing idea, it is fairly easy, even with hindsight that education is the more preferred route. It is I guess, who I am that makes me feel that way. Likewise I think most people have a good instinct about the choice.
I will share with you a baseball story. I came across a few folks (1-2 scouts, and coaches) discussing 2 high school kids – both with similar baseball skills. One of them had a GPA of under 2, and the other had a GPA close to 4. It was very easy decision for the kid with GPA under 2, he clearly had a lot of adjustments to make to be a “college student”. It was much harder for the kid with GPA close to 4. He clearly was cut out for a great degree, and a career in professional baseball.
If professional sports is any indication, it would suggest athletes with college degrees are more successful, and sought after. But then there is always a Shawn Kemp or Kobe or a Zuckerberg.