New topic
PrintablePREDOMINANT said: I don't think that education necessarily has to link to employment. Although many of us use higher education to launch our careers it doesn’t have to be the sole driving force to learn.
There are numerous factors that I believe motivate people to obtain a higher education. Primarily because “it’s what you do” peer pressure, parental pressure everyone is going to uni, so I will too. Then the decision becomes what to study, at 18 many of probably don’t know what we “want to be” and plump for a subject that interests us, that my best friend is taking, that my parents/teachers think I will be good at. Upon Graduation you are stuck! Bad advice/choice at 18, a bit more wisdom and life experience and we realise that that wasn’t what we wanted but the thirst to learn/achieve is not gone. Personally I realised that my degree was not good enough to enter the workforce at a position I was happy with, so I followed up with a post grad. education. Now I don’t need any more education I am qualified to do what I do? No way! Keep topping up, keep studying, along side work, or instead of work. Some of us may be perpetual students but I don’t see problem as long as the study is benefiting you in some way. Linking back to my first statement, some people undergo a programme of higher education just because they are curious about a subject or simply want to know more about it, this can hardly be frowned upon in a society of increasing ignoramuses. Learning new stuff is good – however you do it.  Good on you, though.
I agree with predom's points. I know 3 people who fit the stereotypes, I guess. One is a good friend of mine, who I was in Uni with. He went on to do his Masters, now has a doctorate and just got back from 3 years' working as a researcher in Calgary. He lives for studying, in some ways, but his career has benefited enormously. He's got to see and do things that I guess I'll never see. The other is another good friend of mine, who's 23, left school, went straight into employment and now feels she'd like to go into Higher Education. She's not too sure what it is she wants to study but I've told her that it'll probably be advantageous if she finds a subject she's highly interested in but one that'll also benefit her vocationally. But - based on my own experience  - the most important factor is that she has an interest in the subject, whether if helps her career-wise or not. Otherwise you might as well not bother.
The other person is our next-door neighbour (I hardly know him at all) but he's very much Tim-Nice-But-Dim, quite posh, very dense, Mummy & Daddy pay for everything. He's now on his fifth degree - none of which have ever been completed - all funded by Mom & Pops. It's none of my business, I guess, but - to me - that's just a waste of time and money and taking the opportunity from someone else who might've fought for that place.  Some people have too much money and too little sense...
I don't have any regrets but you spelt it out perfectly, predom. Hindsight's a great thing. If I knew then what I know now, I definitely would've taken time out and worked out exactly what it was I wanted to do. [Edited 2/14/06 4:17am] | |
- E-mail - orgNote -  Report post to moderator |
I'm only one semester away from a bachelor's degree.
The only problem is, it's been 20 yrs. since. Geez...if I focused the time that I spend on the Org to time finishin' my education, I'd have that degree yesterday. But, then again, I wouldn't know why ugly people get all the sex. ...an' that's kinda educational. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |