As a whole, America is a sucker for a success story. We always want to hear about someone who had a dollar and a dream and was able to turn it into something greater than they imagined. Plus the more unlikely the success story is the more people want to hear about it. You will hear about the homeless person who made it, the person who never finished school, or the person who had all the odds stacked against them. Rarely do you hear about the person who buckled down, got an education and worked for years and years to see their dreams come to life. People are always more concerned about being the celebrity at the party then just being at the party itself, never realizing that some of the people in attendance have more wealth than the actual celebrity. Recently I just graduated from college.
And let’s not fool ourselves. The importance of college is on its way out. There are now more factors against it than for it: 1.) It gets more expensive with every school year: Tuition has been on the rise and scholarships have been decreasing at an alarming rate. Trying to get through at least four years of school without taking out some kind of loan becomes harder and harder for people who are already struggling financially. 2.) The economy crisis isn’t helping either: If you’re one of those people who don’t qualify for financial aid, then buying books and other school supplies can easily cost a student anywhere from $400-600 per semester depending on your major. Not being able to find a job doesn’t help in paying for these ‘necessary’ things. 3.) Jobs are less appreciative of your degrees: In about a year, a bachelor’s degree will be the new associate’s degree. More and more jobs are requiring at least a master’s before you can be considered to be hired, or at least a bachelor’s with like 3 years of experience(kind of an oxymoron if you ask me) So not only is it harder to go to college but you now have to stay there even longer before you’re even considered to get hired. It’s definitely become a struggle to get an education these days. With all of these things factoring in, it’s not a surprise why people are more and more hesitant to go to college. After all, it really just seems like a good way to get into debt. Even still though, I am very proud of my accomplishments. Why? Because I did it.
I stayed the path, I finished the course, I did all the cliche things people tell you they did when they put their mind to a goal and see it all the way through. It was hard, very hard. I had to see money I barely had pay for school books I rarely used. I did the all night papers, all night studying sessions. I turned down attending certain social events in order to study, I endured the God awful work-while-going-to-school combination. There are people who graduated high school the same year I did and are nowhere close to being finished with college, some because life happened and others simply because of procrastination. As I sat at my graduation ceremony reflecting on all I had to do to seize that moment, tears came to eyes, especially after finding out that I had graduated Cum Laude. It’s another crucial reminder that hard work does pay off and success can be obtained if you want it badly enough AND are willing to work for it. I wrote this post inspire all of my readers who are currently striving for something that seems far off and/or impossible. You can do it. You can succeed. Don’t get distracted it’s all yours for the taking.
