Is University Education Necessary For Success In Today’s World?
When we make a good decision, we get to experience its benefits, and when we make a bad decision, we face its consequences. That’s why they say decision-making is one of the most essential skills that we need to have in life. Recently, I got the wonderful opportunity to interview two of my ambitious friends, Rashmi and Laura, who have made completely different decisions to each other when it comes to choosing to complete university right after school. I got to know their views on why they made their respective decisions, what they now think of their decisions, and what their future plans are.
Rashmi decided to start working right after school and skip university whereas Laura believed that it would be a safer option for her to finish her degree first, and then start working. Both Rashmi and Laura have big plans and dreams in their lives, and they have their own valid reasons for making the decisions they made.
I loved every minute of reading their thoughts as it was really interesting to me to interview the two of them and get to know their ideas about education and career. Their words were so meaningful that I wished I could do more interviews with them!
They also had some valuable advice for youngsters in education and career-related decision-making at the end, which was to try different things before finally making a decision. However, I think it would be valuable to anybody who is trying to make a major switch in their education or career. I had a good time interviewing my friends. I hope you will enjoy reading their thoughts too :)
Interviewee 1 — Rashmi Jayawardana
1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Funnily, it sounds too generic to say I’m a 19-year-old female. Therefore, I’ll mention my interests and disinterests along with it. I thoroughly enjoy learning something I find interesting as it gives me a sense of accomplishment, makes you feel like you’ve spent the time productively. I also enjoy meeting new people and spending time by myself which sounds bizarre as they don’t go hand in hand. When it comes to what I dislike, being forced to do something I’m not interested in pops into my mind.
2. What’s your educational background?
I finished schooling when I was 17 after completing my a-levels. I got a BBC for my a-level results which might sound funny as you might think of something else. Having said that, I stopped education and decided to get a job.
3. In which way do you think you’re different from others?
In my opinion, I believe that everyone is different from each other and that we have our own unique personalities. So to answer this question, I’ll be generalizing “others” as people who follow societal norms.
Normally, how people around you expect you to stabilize your life is through a few steps.
You go to school, proceed to university, get a job, marry someone to spend your life with, and have kids. It’s almost as if your purpose is defined even before you were born. Which is why I decided to rebel. I wanted to define my own life and purpose.
I realized this right after high school, during high school I was studying something I’m not even interested in. It was painful to force myself to keep studying while feeling demotivated, which is the exact reason why I skipped university and decided to try doing a job at the age of 17. It felt like I’ll probably repeat what I felt in school if I went to university.
A part of me also decided that due to the wanting of being independent. My parents were unhappy providing my school fees due to financial concerns which is one more reason why I disliked going to school. I hated having to ask them for transport or relying on them for anything else as it causes feuds between my parents.
The second choice I made in life might sound a bit controversial. Unlike the majority of humans, I realized that you don’t always need a romantic partner. Is it impossible to live life without a romantic life partner? Most people would say they’d feel lonely and I understand that.
In my opinion, people feel lonely because they always see everyone else with a person. We’ve already set a standard and that standard makes them constantly search for this “other half” as they feel incomplete within themselves. A part of it is also due to the media and the people around you normalizing having a partner as a “must”. I feel absolutely fine imagining a life without a romantic partner, I’m already contented with friends and family that care for me.
The third choice is to most probably not have a child which was obvious after my second statement. I wouldn’t really mind adopting but it makes me anxious when I wonder whether I’d be able to do enough justice as a single parent.
4. Why do you think going to university is not necessary?
I’m not sure whether I agree to it not being necessary. Rather I believe it depends on what your life goals are. If your dream is to be a gamer, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t need to go to university in order to achieve that. If your dream is to be an engineer, lawyer, etc, then I believe it’s important to complete university so that you’ll be a step closer to achieving your dream.
I also know that people skip university and go straight into a job due to financial concerns. Rather than university not being necessary, I would say the university shouldn’t be something that’s rushed into.
It’s baffling how people expect you to know what you want to do at the age of 18 or even less. There are people who are 40 and still have no idea what they want to do. This causes 18-year-olds to jump into something they aren’t even sure about. They end up starting university and feel deeply demotivated learning as they don’t like what they are learning. They feel like they have no escape and feel guilty for wanting to just give up on everything when in reality they were forced into this, unknowingly.
They might even develop a different interest or even figure out what they truly wanna do but feel stuck in an endless loop of not being able to escape an existential crisis. Therefore, I believe everybody has their own pace in life and it’s totally fine even if you decide to go to university at the age of 40.
5. Can you briefly explain your present life?
Currently, I’m working at a gaming company. I truly enjoy my work as I’m able to do what I enjoy doing while getting paid for it.
I live with my mother, in my own place that I bought with the help of my sister. My sister is currently abroad with her boyfriend.
I’ve made amazing friends I’ve met throughout my life and I’ve stuck around with the people I feel truly close to and accept me for who I am.
6. There are so many employers who hire only graduates. So do you think there’s a possibility for you to miss out on good opportunities? What have you planned to do about that?
I absolutely agree that most employers only hire graduates. It’s an understandable concern that I’ve also faced in my life. Yet, just like how certain jobs require you to have been graduated, some jobs don’t. You need to find those jobs and research.
The job I first applied for when I was 17 only required you to have done your o levels. I certainly believe I’ve learnt a lot from my first job and it was quite an amazing job even though the requirements aren’t high.
We should also understand that there are certain occupations in life that do not expect you to have a degree as well. For example, being a YouTuber or content creator of some sort.
7. Do you think you would have regrets in the future when your friends get their degrees and take a huge load off their heads? If you’ve already thought about this, how have you planned to deal with this?
I’ve thought about this and I think it’s inevitable to have regrets in life no matter what kind of life you’ve lived or live. My friends who are suffering in university regret starting university and I was regretting not starting university with them. It felt like they are moving ahead with life when I’m not and when I mention this to them, they felt like I’m way ahead in life than them.
The whole point of regret is that there’s no way of stopping such a thought. Rather you should embrace regret and question yourself whether it’s worth regretting.
I learnt that when something negative happens to us, we start regretting but when things go well for a moment what happens to our regret? It’s non-existent. Therefore whenever I feel regret, I think about how I’ll probably not regret when I’m happy. I lose importance in feeling regret due to that so I end up not feeling it anymore.
8. What does “being successful” mean to you? What steps have you planned to take and/or have you already taken to get there?
Being successful to me is having the ability to do what you like and enjoy doing what you like. According to my meaning, being successful is temporary and not permanent. You can’t always enjoy what you like doing and there’ll be a point that you’d be fed up, therefore it’s temporary.
I think I’m currently successful as I enjoy what I do but I might not be in the future.
To be successful, I followed my own path. To keep being successful, I’ll keep following my own path and walk along the corner when I feel a course of change in my path.
9. What would you like to say to youngsters who are struggling to make education and/or career-related decisions?
I would let them know that what they are feeling is absolutely normal. You aren’t weird not to know what you want to do and what you want to be. So if you really can’t decide, take a break and try being immersed in all kinds of experiences. There’s a huge chance that you’ll understand what you really wanna do by exposing yourself to all kinds of options. It would help you arrange your thoughts and figure out your next step in life.
I also encourage going for therapy, you might feel like everything is fine in life but there are always certain things you don’t even realize that need healing.
Interviewee 2 — Laura Vanderwoodson
(the name has been changed to protect the interviewee’s privacy)
1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m 25 years old, and I’m just working for an ed-tech company full-time as a tutor as of now. I love baking and reading books. I have completed my UG in Computer Science.
2. Why did you want to follow the traditional path (School ➜ University ➜ Work)?
Well, the reason I decided to follow the traditional path was that I felt education was very important and I felt like that was something that you could always hold on to.
3. Are you satisfied/happy with where you’re at in life right now?
I feel like there’s a lot more I have to achieve before I can feel satisfied with where I am in life right now. There’s still a lot I have to figure out and work towards.
4. What do you think are the pros and cons of following the traditional path?
The pros would be:
-It’s easier to find a job with a degree than without one. It’s possible to get jobs without a degree but if you want a job with a high salary and in a good position, a degree is a must.
-It holds a lot of value
Cons:
-It’s too theoretical and not practical enough
-Marks and grades are given priority over learning which pushes students to memorize study materials which are why most of us tend to forget what we learned right after the exam is over
-It hinders one’s creativity as we tend to stick to 9–5 jobs after taking the traditional path which seems like a safer option
5. Do you have any regrets about choosing this path?
No, I don’t because if I want I can still go on another path like entrepreneurship but I would also still have this as a backup option
6. If you had not chosen the traditional path, what would have you done differently?
Well, maybe I would have tried to start my own thing like maybe make money by selling desserts and keeping classes
7. What next steps have you planned for your education and/or career?
I am planning to do my higher studies and finish my PG
8. What does ‘being successful’ mean to you, and what strategies are you planning to take to get there?
For me, it means being my own boss. I don’t want to be dependent on a job for everything because there’s no guarantee that they won’t fire us and I’d rather dedicate all that hard work to my own business.
I am going to have to start slow. I am planning to start something part-time but before that, I need to do all the planning carefully. Once that’s done I can start working on it and if it becomes successful, I can take it up as a full-time thing.
9. Do you have any advice for youngsters who are struggling to make decisions regarding their education/career?
Don’t worry about the money because that follows later. Of course, it’s important but passion is more important because when you’re passionate about something it won’t feel like work. I think it’s very important to look at all the options and explore them a bit to see what interests you.
Thank you for reading..
Have a good day :)
