“If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library.” — Frank Zappa
This is a wake up call to everyone hiding behind college.
I love learning. I’m a huge supporter of constant improvement and development. I’m very curious and interested in how the world works and how things come together. I also enjoy getting wasted with friends. This doesn’t mean that I need to stay in school for all of this to happen. I don’t need to go back to college to drink and learn. I can do that all on my own. I can leave the classroom.
I earned my degree and am done with formal education. I will keep on learning until the day I die. I will keep on learning how to be a better friend, how to workout, how things work, new languages, and so on. I don’t need to spend a fortune on tuition to learn or to drink.
So where am I going with this? I’ve been meeting too many friends that are hiding behind college. The excuses are all similar.
- I can’t launch because all of my time is spent on my research.
- I don’t mind being broke because I’m still in school (despite being almost 30).
- More education will help me.
- There are no jobs in my field.
The excuses all point to one problem. Too many of us are hiding behind college.
So what do you do without college?
I’m actually a huge fan of education. I’m a huge fan of college, learning, and pushing yourself. I just don’t believe that we should all be in college forever! We eventually need to leave and move on with life. We can learn stuff without reading it off a boring Powerpoint presentation.
Without college, there are a million things you could do. We’ve looked at many options for what to do after college. I don’t want to repeat myself, but you can easily get a job, start a business, or do something more productive. Just because you’re not in a classroom it doesn’t mean that you’re not learning. You can be your own professor.
What about finding a job?
If a new education will help you land a better or different job, then go for it!
If expanding on your current education will increase your income, then go for it!
Those aforementioned statements come directly to you from the department of DUH!
Yet so many of our peers are taking random courses and earning degrees for no apparent reason. Why? I’m not sure. They might be afraid of looking for work, they can’t find work, or they just don’t want to leave the comforts of school. I don’t really know.
Don’t stay in school because you can’t find a job or are afraid of looking for one. There are many options if you can’t find work after college. You don’t have to rack up any more debt just to stay in a classroom.
If adding credentials to your resume will directly help you with your income, then you obviously don’t need to listen to the advice in this piece.
Should you follow your passions?
Right now is the best time to make money online. It’s also the best time to learn anything. It’s the best time to do anything.
I don’t have just one answer when it comes to this question. Some of us want to work and make lots of money. Others want to change the world. Some just want to travel and explore. It’s up to you if you want to follow your passions.
I’m constantly looking for answers to this question. A while back I had many of my peers that I respect chime in with their thoughts on life after college. The end result? A bunch of sweet insights that you could use to make the best decisions possible. Don’t say that you didn’t know what to do!
Finally, it’s time to bring everything together now.
So what do you do?
It’s time to destroy your fears. We need to stop being so afraid of everything and just take action. Some action. Any action. Anything beats just sitting around waiting for something to happen. Anything beats staying in school until you’re 30 hoping for something to happen. We can’t just stay in school and think that everything will be okay.
We need to stop hiding behind college. We need to take some responsibility for our lives.
And no I’m not here to push some conspiracy theory documentary on you or anything like that. I just want to open your eyes to the world around you. There’s more to life than just school. The parties are pretty fun outside of college.
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Please stop hiding behind college. You owe it to yourself to make something happen. You can’t just throw out YOLO (you only live once) before a shot of tequila. It also applies to other areas in your life.
Great article! I think everyone should ask themselves if college is right for them and what they want to do with their life. There are many successful people that did not go to college or complete college. The classic examples are Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
True. I’m not against college. I’m just saying that we shouldn’t hide behind it.
I couldn’t agree more. Young people need to start taking more responsibility for their lives and take action!
Right on Nick. Have you seen any examples in your group of friends of that not willing to take action?
Oh yeah, for sure. I have friends that still take one class per semester just to have that excuse. It allows them to still work their campus jobs and not face the reality of the real world.
Interesting. Why do you think that is?
Great post. I have so many friends who back to school for reason I can’t explain. They take out more loans and get in more debt. I think the reason is that this people have no purpose in their lives so they follow whatever society tells them to do.
It’s not so bad if you can afford it or if your school pays for it, but when you have to go into deep debt without any future income guarantees, that sucks.
Great post man. Like they say “education gets you a job, self-education makes you rich.” School is the end-all – it’s actually just the beginning. I have some friends who went to pretty crappy colleges but are still doing great – they never stop learning.
As a part-time college instructor, I totally agree with this. I see too many students going back to school–or to school for the first time–as a way of avoiding…well, pretty much anything. It’s kind of sad, really. And what most of them fail to realize is that the end goal, the degree, is pretty much worthless if they don’t do anything practical to back it up. A formal education is great, but the hands on, voluntary learning that occurs outside the classroom is what’s really essential.
Well said. Without the practical stuff you might be screwed.
Fantastic article and great points. Also, I love any article that starts with a Frank Zappa quote.
Thanks Michael! I love my quotes 🙂
Reflecting back, I made the mistake of going to grad school to avoid facing real life. Was fun and learned lots, but was also expensive as hell! I guess you can never really learn that the stove is hot until you touch it a few times!
Well said Steve. We all do things to avoid real life. I’m glad that you had fun and learned a bit in the process.