Was college “worth it” for me?
The Strada Network and Gallup recently conducted a study on whether those that completed college felt it was worth the cost, and it got me thinking about my own educational journey.
Having graduated with a BA in Spanish in Miami, there were no jobs that were directly aligned to my major and I was frequently encountered with a “Great. You speak Spanish. So does literally everyone else in this city, so what on earth can you do?”
I wasn’t focused on my future career in college. I didn’t take advantage of my career center at all. As a transfer student, I didn’t feel particularly supported or guided by an academic advisor, as I was coming in with a clearly defined major and was mostly focused on making sure my credits from my semester abroad transferred. I took jobs and internships that enabled me to travel and improve my language skills, but weren’t aligned with whatever my future career would be. I figured I could always figure that out later. Fluency was my goal, and that trumped all other decisions.
After a few years as a study abroad advisor and an English teacher overseas, I felt stuck. Higher ed was all I had ever done — so maybe it was all I could ever do?
I decided to go to graduate school to “figure out my next steps” — leveraging my language skills to transition to the private sector, though in what capacity exactly I had no idea.
With an MA in Intercultural Communication, I again found myself in a place where my degree wasn’t aligned with any particular role. I had gone to graduate school to continue exploring what I wanted to do, to “find myself” — and despite more focused hands-on project experiences (consultancies that we called “practicums”), I still felt totally lost and didn’t have any scaffolded skills.
By the end of my MA, I felt that I had a hodgepodge of experiences where I learned a lot, but didn’t know how or where I could truly apply them.
Due to political shifts in DC and still feeling the need to be immersed in other cultures, I fell into a sales role at a travel company that would enable me to be remote and find a community of others that weren’t content with settling down quite yet. As a study abroad advisor, I had consistently advocated for the value of overseas experiences, but had never before been held to a quota. While I didn’t love sales and never envisioned it as a career, my hope was that sales was the foot in the door I needed and that from there I could prove myself and transition into something more strategic, more focused on building processes and supporting programs.
But life doesn’t always turn out as we had planned. After a layoff, I found myself in another sales role, this time at least advocating for something I truly believe in at the intersection of the future of education and the future of work (which at the very least, allows me to be extremely engaged and read things like the Strada Network’s study!)
Which brings me back to “do I feel my degrees were worth it?”
I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have received any of the opportunities I’ve been given had I not had degrees. I wouldn’t have been eligible for Fulbright. I wouldn’t have been eligible for graduate school. No one that hired me would have hired me without them.
But is that due to what I actually learned, or the societal requirement of making sure you have a degree to deem you “worthy?”
Did I feel my educational experiences provided me with a clear career direction? No.
Did I leverage resources to deeply explore? No.
Did I partake in a series of clubs and internships and opportunities to push beyond what I felt I was good at and try new things? Absolutely not.
(I’m also purposely omitting the financial side of this argument. As a child of privilege, I’m one of the very fortunate few with no debt. This has enabled me to pursue opportunities not for their financial benefit, but for the experience. This is what has allowed me to continue to pursue roles at mission-driven organizations. I’m sure if debt were part of the equation, my educational and career journeys would be entirely different.)
So when I think whether my degrees were worth it — it’s an extremely nuanced answer.
I know I wouldn’t be where I am without them. But I also know that I’m 31 and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. What’s my “profession”? What’s my north star?
But maybe that’s the challenge. Maybe college isn’t meant to tell you what you want to be. It’s meant to teach you how to leverage resources at your disposal to explore, learn, evolve, grow, and pivot.
The problem is: I didn’t know that’s what I was supposed to be doing in undergrad. I thought I just took classes and got a degree and that was that. I went to college because “that’s what you do.” I felt any skills I gained would somehow be useful in the future, though I wasn’t quite sure how. I felt I had time to “figure it out” and that whatever it was would fall into place because potential employers would see value in my degree simply because I had one.
(I’m also continuously surprised that my language abilities have never actually served me in my professional life, just my personal life. Though I certainly wouldn’t trade them for the world.)
It wasn’t until graduate school — after the true existential crisis had sunk in around “what do I want to be” — that I really tried to take on experiences that would help me experiment with different career paths.
And while I didn’t figure out what I really wanted to be, at the very least I learned what I didn’t want. Although that feels like less progress, it’s still a huge part of the journey.
Despite my degrees, I feel “behind” every day.
If only I had taken advantage of X opportunity. If only I had relied on my career center. If only I had explored majors instead of choosing one right off the bat. Maybe things would be different.
So the real question when thinking about whether college is worth it is…
How do we make sure that students understand:
- the importance of leveraging resources available to them to truly explore careers?
- that while academia is important, unless they’re planning to pursue a PhD, they should be thinking about their skills and how they might want to apply them post-graduation?
- that there are resources and people at their disposal, and that those resources certainly won’t be around forever?
- that it’s okay to try things you think you might not be good at? That changing your major is okay? That mixing majors that might not “go together” is okay? That changing your mind is okay?
- that it’s not about figuring it out, but figuring out how to figure it out? Because that’s something that they’ll undoubtedly need to do for the rest of their lives.
At few other times in our lives do we have the opportunity to explore. How can we make sure all students are fully leveraging their university experience to do so?
Of course, I don’t believe that it’s the sole responsibility of universities to do this work.
- High schools must do a better job at helping students have a career-oriented mindset upon entering college.
- Employers must provide ample opportunities for hands-on project-based experiences for students.
- Academic advisors must make relevant career data available to college students and make sure they understand the career landscape and potential career outcomes of their choice of major.
- Innovators must seek opportunities for increased engagement between students and professionals as mentorship and storytelling are key.
…and so much more. I know there are tons of extremely forward-thinking people and institutions working towards these goals. And I so applaud your work and would love to connect to learn more about it. I also know that so many students are reaping the benefits of these resources and initiatives. My question is how do we make sure no one falls through the cracks?
Perhaps that’s why I’ve always been so drawn to helping others navigate their careers and transformative educational opportunities. Because deep down, I feel like I missed out.
I know the resources are out there. And while I might have missed my opportunity to truly take advantage of them as a student, I’m committed to helping others find them, use them, and grow from them.
