hmm.

[juldea]

In light of brendan's "the meaning of marriage" post, I want to ask for opinions on this:

the meaning of a college degree.

Comments

[vambot5.livejournal.com]

all the degree should say is that you are dedicated enough to have gotten it. other than that, I don't think it should say anything. I think that there should be technical schools and universities, and that they shouldn't overlap unnecessarily. I don't think there should be "majors"; I think that the student should go to university, take classes in the areas that interest him/her, and then write a thesis over a topic of focus.

I also think that grades are silly, now that I think about it. they really have no meaning (like the quality settings on lame's VBR encoder, what do they mean?). there has to be a better way to measure performance. what are grades supposed to say, anyway? I think it should be either 1) a measure of demonstrated learned knowledge or 2) a measure of (over)achievement. I would, of course, prefer the former option, because I am not an overachiever.

[ex-dervish821.livejournal.com]

well, what mine means to me is that i was dedicated enough to stick around and follow the rules long enough to get it. yeah, i think i learned a lot, but i could certainly have learned just as much without a piece of paper. however, i am proud of my degree.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Dedicated to what? To thinking a piece of paper is important? To think a set plan of classes that someone else writes out for you is important?

What about dedicated to thinking that being a happy kid is important?

[goldbug.livejournal.com]

are you thinking of not continuing your degree?

i really think that my degree itself will mean nothing to me. i don't care about having a degree. i won't be proud of it, but neither will i be embarrassed of it.

what it will mean is that i'll be able to do things. i'll be able to do a 3-year M. Arch program instead of a 5-year B. Arch program.

and then in theory i will earn more money at some point because i will have a college degree. i doubt that having a master's in architecture will bring more money to me than a bachelor's, but finishing evil capstone (thus, graduating) will hopefully lead to me being an architect sooner.

if college isn't making you happy, and you don't see how a degree will make you happy/make your life in the future easier, then quit. (for good, not just a semester). you can always come back.

[ex-sleek838.livejournal.com]

heh not much here. we have people with master's degrees flipping burgers and washing dishes because they lost their jobs due to the economic downturn

[ex-dervish821.livejournal.com]

dedicated to sticking *something* out. i tend to quit things, and i have a great sense of accomplishment that i finished that, at least. and i loved being in school. yeah, i was ready to be done when i was done, but i LIKE homework and papers and assignments. maybe i'm a weird duck.

if it's not something that will give you any satisfaction or any other benefits you can think of, quit, and do what WILL make you happy. of course. it seems silly to stick out something you HATE because you think you should for some undefinable reason.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

*sigh* but it's the eternal question of "will happiness now make me more miserable later than I am miserable now?"

I suppose I could phrase that better.

Say that happiness were rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Say that I'm at, say, a 6 happiness now, and that moving to Boston to be with Jason would put me at an 8, probably - not all money and job issues would be solved, but I'd be there.

However, say that moving to Boston and not getting a degree ends up with me working a very bad job in the future and Jason and I scraping for money and always in debt. That would lower my happiness level back down to a 5 or 6, I'd say. Lots of stress. And say that staying here and getting my degree ends up in more job prospects when I -am- with Jason, more freedom in the economic sense, and a happiness level of 9.

Moving to Boston now = 8+5/2 = 6.5
Staying in Norman = 6+9/2 = 7.5

Therefore, to ensure the most overall happiness, I should stay for now.

This is all made up and I'm not sure you can even quantify happiness like that. But it's just such a scary decision to make...

[zenandtheart.livejournal.com]

If you quit now would you feel like you wasted the last 3 (or however many) years? Or would you feel like you gained the year that you didn't end up going? I can see your problem - these decisions are impossible to judge until a few years have gone by and you can look back and say 'I wish I had/ I'm glad I didn't..'. I tend to make my major life decisions based on a feeling of 'rightness', but when you ain't got that I don't know what you should do. I don't know if I'd be asking other people's opinions - they are all coloured by their own experiences and if you make a choice based on something someone (or a group of people) say then you might resent them if it turns out badly.. although you don't seem like the sort of person who would do that, really.. Um, if I were you I'd stick at it. A year can go really quickly and you can generally do more with a degree than without. Of course I know nothing about the American job market or what it actually means to get a degree over there so I could be completely wrong. Just search for that feeling of 'rightness':)

[juldea.livejournal.com]

First off: no, I wouldn't feel like I wasted those years of my life. Maybe this past year, because I really haven't wanted to be here and I've stuck around anyway. THAT is wasting time.

And I'm NOT asking for people to tell me what to do. I'm pondering all this stuff, and I just tend to be interested on how my ideas view from other peoples'. No one is going to make this decision for me. However, there's the possibility that someone will say something that I haven't thought of that will help me. Certainly I don't believe I know everything about everything.

I don't really want to be a part of the American job market.