For almost three years now, I have been working, arguably hard, towards the completion of an undergraduate degree. During these three years, I have lived in a different country, spent dozens of days – and a fair number of nights – studying in the library, read several books and countless journal articles, and written and rewritten essays and reports I still know by heart.
It might sound like an awkward flex but in reality, I have pretty much dedicated my life to one singular goal for the last three years of my life. And ironically enough, the question I get asked the most as far as my education goes is whether studying for a degree was worth it.
I am one month away from the submission of my last piece of work, so I wouldn’t rush to say I’ve had the full university experience yet. Moreover, the worth of having a university degree is wildly different from an individual to another: what you decided to study, where you complete your degree, the cost-benefit analysis of the entire conundrum. So today, with what I know so far and the impressions I’ve gathered ever since I moved to the United Kingdom to pursue higher education, I will tell you whether I think having an undergraduate degree is worth it.
I feel like with university, neither I nor my peers had a choice to begin with. Ever since a young age, I had been told that going to university and studying to get a degree is the way to get a job, make a living, survive in the adult world. I had been told that people without a degree will struggle to get good jobs, or they will have to undertake less paid jobs – the concept of higher education was tied to money a lot, and little did I know then, this relationship was a real thing to begin with. The apparently mandatory nature of university didn’t bother me at all: to put it frankly, I was a nerd and I liked school and learning, and I wouldn’t have minded doing it for another three-four years if needed. I think it’s safe to say that, coming from a fairly privileged background, I always sort of knew I was going to go to university, but I also knew that I would struggle if I decided I didn’t want to go.
From an educational standpoint, was university what I expected it to be? More or less. I learned a lot of what I was interested to know more about. I broadened my perspective and developed a wide range of skills that I would’ve struggled to attain outside of higher education. I feel like I have learned a lot more about the world, what’s out there and how I’m supposed to go about it when I finish. One aspect that particularly thrilled me about uni is learning about what makes an individual employable and how to approach the job market to get the position that you want. I cannot tell whether that is the university I went to or a general thing but nevertheless, it was eye-opening and genuinely helpful with what’s coming next.
And yet, with all of this, I don’t really feel like a graduate. For some silly reason, I still feel like I have a lot more to learn, and I need to stay in uni for three more years to feel like I have properly covered everything there was to cover. The amount of knowledge I possess at the moment feels underwhelming; I found that a lot of the time I’m thinking, ‘was this really it?’
Can you learn what is provided by a degree outside of university? Most probably, yes. Now more than ever, we have wide access to lots of information, educational resources and services that help us develop skills and abilities of use in the real world. I never cease to be amazed by the variety of online courses offered out there, which are revoltingly cheaper compared to uni, and the diversity of books provided in libraries and bookshops alike – honestly, whatever you pick up, you can learn it. A degree will offer you an edge over someone that’s done an online course in the same field because it’s a degree, and it certifies that you have assimilated the knowledge and trained to do the job right. Nowadays, a university degree is a must-have on anybody’s résumé. There is genuinely no way around it.
Looking back, I do think, still, that studying for a degree was worth it. Apart from its educational value, I have had the most important experiences of my life while I was at uni. Moving to a different country was an enormous change in itself, and the most meaningful decision I have ever made. Not only have I had the opportunity to experience a society different from the one I was raised in, but I have also been lucky enough to find a second home. At the end of my three years of studying at an undergrad level, I can safely say that I want to stay and build a life here, for so much more than the expectations I had prior to leaving my home country. My experience in the United Kingdom was genuinely nice and it felt right for the type of person I have become. To me at this point in time, it makes sense that I stick around.
In university, I also felt that I have found my voice. I got to know myself better, learn what I want in my life and what I want to stir away from, make choices that mattered to me and grow into a person that would’ve made my younger self very happy and, to some extent, proud. I feel like with people my age, there is a lot of pressure around figuring out your future, what kind of job and family you want to have and where you’re going exactly, but not enough emphasis is put on the values that you want to incorporate in your life. And well, I find that downright stupid: how are you supposed to decide on the specifics, if the big picture remains unclear? My time in university has allowed me to explore and choose the values that I want to be consistent in my life moving forward, and therefore, it has given me the courage to jump in head first and figure everything else out along the way.
Finally, it is in university that I have found my people. Relationships have always been a complicated one for me, and more often than not, I chose to surround myself with the wrong types of people, people that would put me down rather than lift me up, thus confirming the beliefs I held most strongly about myself. My obsession with finding friends for life has also prompted me to get very quickly attached to wrong individuals, and eventually do everything in my power to make them stay. Out of somebody very fearful of being alone, university has made me into someone that simply, genuinely enjoys being with people. Communicating, exchanging ideas, building meaningful bonds when needed and called for. The fact that we were all in this together has only made our friendships stronger, having added a sense of security, as well. Maybe that’s the best way to put it: I feel safe with my tribe.
There is just so much that has happened in the last three years for me. So many adventures, so many unforgettable experiences that have shaped me into the person I am today, and I would’ve had none of this if I didn’t come to uni. So more than anything, I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity. For better or for worse, I am where I’m supposed to be now.
As far as your experience with university goes, was studying for a degree worth it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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