When getting an education isn’t so smart.
One of the dumbest things I’ve ever done was go to college. I’m not saying that going to college is a bad thing, just that it isn’t for everyone. When I went to college it was for all the wrong reasons, but I can say I have learned from the experience.
It wasn’t until my senior year that I even considered college as an option. Just like most soon to be graduating students, I had a very limited understanding of what college was really all about and what it took to get there. Going to a very rural school, we weren’t taught about college. It was just something that people said you needed to do, but couldn’t really explain why.
Using that advice I attempted to enroll right after graduation. The only thing is, I didn’t know how to pay for it. After signing up for all of my classes for the upcoming semester I realized college wasn’t free. Not knowing about financial aid, I had missed all deadlines and had a huge bill waiting for me before I could start my first day.
Knowing I had no way of paying, I was forced to drop all classes and figure out what I was going to do next. Coming from a very military family, I decided to give that a try. I spent three years in the Coast Guard. During my enlistment I was exposed to the world of online universities.
The first school I tried was the most popular at the time, The University of Phoenix. After taking a couple classes with them, I realized it just wasn’t right for me. Then shortly after I tried American Military University. I took a couple classes with them, but didn’t do very well there either. In both cases, I had lacked basic English composition skills and kept writing what I thought to be proper essays, but would get butchered for not citing. I didn’t even know what citing was.
After leaving the military I came back home and tried my hand at college again. This time at a brick and mortar location, The University of Arkansas. Using my military service, I was able to gain admission where I wouldn’t have been able to before with my very average ACT scores. I spent three years at the U of A and never really figured out what I wanted to do. Starting with a business major and then transitioning to pre-physical therapy.
By the end of the three years my GI Bill was starting to run out and I realized I was going to have to get a job. I had been working part time my whole college career, but that wouldn’t continue to pay the bills. That is when I dropped out of the U of A and took a job with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
I didn’t need a degree to get the job with the VA, but was determined not to just leave all of my work undone. While working my first job as a police dispatcher for the local VA Hospital I returned to online schooling. This time back to American Military University. At this point I knew I just wanted to finish my bachelors and didn’t care what in, so I chose a topic that seemed interesting. That topic was International Relations.
I finished the bachelors in International Relations and did much better after having attended the University of Arkansas. There were basics taught at the physical school that they expect you to already know in the online world. I was proud to have finished what I started, but since my GI Bill had run out I had taken on some student loan debt in the process.
While at the VA I moved up the ranks by continually changing jobs, each time with more pay. The funny thing is, none of these jobs required a degree. Once I realized this, I understood that there was not a need to take on debt just to have those extra initials associated with my signature block. Even though I had come to this realization, my education journey did not stop.
I was now making more money than I had ever thought possible, but couldn’t afford to start repaying the student loans I had taken. The only way I knew to avoid payment without damaging my credit was to take more classes. This led me to the pursuit of another online degree, this time with Columbia Southern University. Using the same approach I had taken when finishing my bachelors, I chose to start a masters program that just seemed interesting. This field was Occupational Safety and Health.
You can probably see the vicious cycle even before it is told. Just like before, I had to take on debt to finish this degree. That is where my first comment comes into play. Taking on debt to avoid paying debt is by far the dumbest thing I have ever done. It also didn’t stop with this degree. After a year off, and even larger bill to pay, I started a second masters degree. This time it was an MBA in Project Management. Again, more debt.
I’m now in a position to repay my debt, but had I never experimented with college in the first place I’d be in a much better position. I only ever wanted a degree for the sake of satisfying some unwritten rule of needing one. The truth is, I’ve never needed a degree to get where I am today.
I did have a lot of good times and had great experiences while in college. I would never discourage someone that wanted to seek out a degree. I would just want them to make sure before enrolling that the degree is necessary for the career path they are choosing.
