Is School a Scam?
On acknowledging the evolution of education
For the most part of my life, I’ve been a fairly decent student. In fact, at some point in junior high school, I was actually one of the top three in my class. Somehow, I tried to maintain that momentum when I crossed over to senior high school. Let’s just say, I came out with straight Bs.
At university, much to my chagrin, I ended up studying a completely different course which at that time I had no business doing whatsoever. If I had known, I would have just gone with my choice and not yield to my Nigerian mother’s suggestion. Best believe, I struggled the ENTIRE time. Of course, I had a record to sustain so I never really voiced my struggles, I just winged it and put in a little decent effort. Thankfully, it was an unconventional school which meant that I had a lot of time to actively pursue my other interests including writing.
At some point in my life, I thought having a first class in school was the ultimate. It was literally goals for me. But deep down, I always knew that I wasn’t all that smart enough so yeah it was something I aspired to achieve. But then, it hit me that in recent times, things have changed. Life as we know it is clearly no longer the same particularly with the advent of technology especially the internet which has affected every area of our lives.
Not too long ago, that first class could get you the best jobs in the best companies particularly here in Nigeria. But now, not so much. The tide has changed. Although, I’m sure there are still industries that value high flying students and whatnot but they are in the minority (if I’m not mistaken. I stand to be corrected). These days, more than anything, it’s your skill set that matters. More than ever before, our careers are literally in our hands as we can learn absolutely anything we want to from the Internet.
Once in a while, my mother always asks me my plans for a Master’s Degree and I give her the same response;
I’m not interested in having one yet because right now it’s not a necessity for my career.
And she just looks at me and remains silent. She still can’t believe her daughter that was crazy about school and degrees no longer cares. Unfortunately, that’s the situation right now because I’m more interested in becoming the best Digital Marketer I can be than stacking up degrees. Plus it’s a waste of time if it’s not related.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this school thing and the only question that keeps me up at night is,
Is school a scam?
Obviously, there are still disciplines that require trainings and structure. I’m just wondering if I would ever still want to get an education from the structure of a four walled system.
Who knows?
