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Week 4 [27.03-02.04.2017] Higher education - is it a must have?

All our life we go to school. We leave kindergarten for primary school, then middle school and high school. We have to go there, this is the law we have to follow. But what is next? Our whole life is about what our next step will be. And for most cases, that is to get higher education. But do we have to really do that? It is totally up to us.

We are lucky to live in the country where education in most cases are free. Look on Americans who are not in such a luck. But only because you don't have to pay for it doesn't mean you have to go.



When you are in high school it is really hard to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. And that is ok. I felt the same way. There is nothing wring in having doubts and fear. If you are not sure you want to go to get higher education you should give yourself some time to think of it after all exams, without peers' pressure. Why waist time for something you don't like when you can just carefully think it through? Remember, this is about your future, you should not rush anything.

Most of the people say that without a degree you will not find a job. I highly doubt that. There are so many jobs, which doesn't require any school, for example : programmer. Your skills show what you can do, not your degree from school. All the creative jobs or in writing also are available for people without degree.Not going to college doesn't always mean working at McDonald's(which is also, not a shame at all).



You should not go to University only because your friends go. Not always something what is best for them is also good for you. Think about it. You all have different dreams, goals and things to achieve. Don't feel any pressure about it.

The most common to think is that you "should" do it and "this is how it is supposed to be". And who said that? Except from your parents, of course.This is your life and you should decide. If you feel that going to college will make you unhappy you shouldn't do it. College is not a place for everyone. If you don't think it is a right choice for you, just don't go.

If you take some time to think about your future you will probably make a smarter decision. There is so many ways to develop yourself. You don't need higher education to do that. There is nothing wrong with figuring out what you want to do with your life. And it is ok when you change it.

What do you think about it? Do you think you should go to the college no matter what or choose your own path?


Comments

Unknown said…
I believe that everyone should choose their path, but I think that higher education is important and this is something worth trying, especially, that in Poland you can study for free.
I think that only when you try you can say if it is something for you or not. There is so many fields of study, so everyone can find something for themselves. Sure, not everyone have to be bachelor or master, but I really don't like to listen to people to have never been studying and say that at university you won't learn anything - I knew that it wasn't true after first semester.
But I understand and accept that some people have other plans (but doing nothing and not working for whole life is not a plan!), because I know people, who have never been studying, but still they got great job, their own businesses.
Unknown said…
First of all, I'm convinced it's not a duty to go to the college. Everybody chooses his own path and is responsible for it. I mean - you live the way you want, so if college doesn't help you in achieving success, don't go there.

Of course, there is a point worth thinking:
What does 'success' mean to you? What do you want to do in your life? One wants to be a doctor, the other just a cleaner (it's not a shame, but to do it you don't have to graduate from college).

On the other hand, I do believe graduating from college gives you some social status. What's more, certainly it doesn't destroy anything - can only help.
In my private case, I cannot imagine me without graduating. For me (I mean, my person) it's obligatory.

To sum up, I believe higher eduation is not 'must have', but 'nice to have'. In some cases it's obligatory, but it depends on a person and plan for a life and that's a secret of 'must have higher education'.
Unknown said…
You should not go to the university just because your mom tells you to do so or your friends go so you feel like you should go. You should go because you want to. Because you can learn how to learn and expand your views on the subject. It's not like you have to. If you know enough to do what you like and earn money from it that's fine.
It also depends on what kind of field you want to work in. Programming is highly practical so you can learn by doing and sharpen your skill but being a lawyer requires you to have the knowledge and that requires studying.
Ihor Ahnianikov said…
I totally agree, although it's hard to understand what you really want to achieve in the long term when you're 16.

In my opinion there will be a revolution in higher education in 5-10 years, because online learning and other technologies slowly change the whole industry. Higher education is no longer a requirement for getting a good job, of course I'm not talking about certified professions like lawyers and doctors you mentioned.
I think that there is a lot of pressure on young people to go to the university. Sometimes it doesn't even matter what field of study they will choose, only thing that matter that they will have a degree. That's why now we have a lot of people after university which can't find a job. They didn't think about what they want to do and went on random university. Some people think that without university you are not well educated, in my opinion, you don't have a university degree to be intelligent and clever.
Unknown said…
In my opinion university is for people who know perfectly what they want to do but also for those who have no idea what to do next, because they can learn there about a lot of new possibilities for themselves, for example I went to graphic design beacuse I love drawing and I have a few friends who are graphic designers, but I didn't know anything about it and after I went to university I saw a lot of paths and opportunities in this area. Of course not everyone must be a master or a doctor but I think everyone should try study, beacuse it's great time. In my opinion it doesn't make sense when someone tells you to do it. It's true that skills and knowledge are the most important and if we don't have it then a degree won't help us in any way.
In general it depends upon person - higher education for sure can help, and can make a lot of things easier, while at the same time it doesn't really affect anything negatively. However - how *much* of positive factors it will actually bring depends upon person, as one can absolutely need it for given job, while others will graduate from philosophy, culture or other similar courses and basically gain nothing whatsoever.

Practical studies always help. Being a master of science always helps. Even if one doesn't graduate, he/she can learn a lot while studying, potentially exploring things that wouldn't be explored otherwise. So yes, higher education is not a must, but it's definitely worth trying.
Anonymous said…
In my opinion a higher education isn't necessary nowadays. Let's take an IT business for example. I think most of employees are about rather to check what you can do and what you know that what collage you've finished.
I believe that what really matters is skills and knowledge, not a collage degree or some other papers.
Michał Pycek said…
In my opinion it is not for everyone, but when you decide to do it, it it better to finish it and accomplish the diploma. You never know when it may be needed. These times set standars regarding experience and skills, but maybe in 10 years a diploma will be needed and this is why I believe we should also take that into consideration.
Everything depends on the individual. Education for sure will not hurt in finding job. But nowadays, the most important is your skills and experience in the field. It is common that someone have higher education in one scope, and working in someting else. So there is no obligation to study, and have a degree to fulfil professionally.
I think higher education is a must. Maybe my opinion will differ from everyone else. I'm 33 and work in the IT business for over 10 years right now - starting as a Junior IT, and currently as Senior IT Specialist/Manager. Most people I work with have their higher degree. Some of them decided to end it at engineer level but still got their degree. Many people will say that you don't need school to be a successful in the IT business, just show what you can do - I'm very skeptical about it. Studies (no matter if IT or not) learn you a lot, you're more mature than you used to in high school and making new contacts, decisions, etc. - that's the time for that. Cooperation, managing of your resources, prioritizing, fast decision making, resolving stress situations - that is mostly all you will get in college - if you miss that you will miss a lot. Saw it many times recruiting new people to their job. Mostly at CV it looked great, after few minutes of talking and testing their knowledge it was not so good. I remember only one person out of 30 I'm currently working with that was working without higher education (but he made it during work anyway just to keep pension at higher level).

Three things out of my head that your degree will get you:
1) If you're working after graduation you will get your +6 holiday days faster because studying counts as working years :)
2) If your company have a pension grade you will not get higher paid unless you will get higher degree.
3) If you wish to be treated seriously in the IT business you must have a degree. You can have MCSE, OCP and many other titles but if you won't have degree (IT is not a must you can even have it done from Archaeology mostly it won't matter) you will have no use for an outsourcing company because 99% of offers starts with - "must have a higher degree".
Unknown said…
It is very interesting article. In my opinion today we need to have a higher education to make a good profit. Few year ago it was easy to set up a business. Now it's very hard because we have very stupid rules. The fact is that in IT companies you do not need higher education only skills but unfortunately it is a minority
Unknown said…
Going or not to the University should be your personal decision. In Poland there are a lot of people who study and don’t want to learn, just pass through it and get a degree. And then, when it comes to go to work, there is a problem. You spend 5 years on University and actually you don’t have any practical skills. I think the only way to get a dream job is to like what you do and to be interested in it, because when you are good in something you always will find a job.
Higher education isn't a "permit" to get a job anymore. I was working with people who didn't have higher education. I noticed then they had more practical knowledge which is very important in work, but in my opinion - everybody should get their higher degree. Not because of knowledge (which is of course very important), but because of other skills like cooperation, managing of time resources, resolving many stress situations - you will defenitly learn those in a university. Also, you can make new friends or contacts in a university. You will have time for working so go to a university first and enjoy your last ages of youth!
I think you need to try to obtain a higher education , not only because it told mom =) , but because from school it gives the opportunity not only to gain knowledge but also many other useful practical skills , such as teamwork , communication in society , perhaps good contacts in the future.
Magdalena Popek said…
In Poland there is a tradition(?) you SHOULD go on a uni, because what will people say?!?!!? And people with no idea what to do in a future choose studies as easy as possible just to get the diploma. And they reach the same point they have once reached - they have no idea what to do. But they are now 5 years older. Of course I am not saying you can't get a job after such studies but there is one thing - you have to have an idea. An idea about what you want to do and how to use the knowledge you got during the time on a uni. But most people don't have it.
For some jobs the diploma is not required, as you mentioned. But when you have two people with similar knowledge and skills, then diploma > no diploma. Why? In my opinion because higher education develops you in some way. And it's not always about knowledge but about soft skills for example.
And what is important, studying is also about networking. You never know who is your friend's friend!
You don't need to have a degree to find a stable, well paid job. Of course, there are many professions requiring higher education, but these are beyond this discussion as such requirement is imposed by law. There is nothing to prevent you being a white-collar worker without graduation (IT is a great example here). On the other hand, there is still lack of skilled workers in manual jobs.
I believe the key thing is that you have to love what you do. If your choice requires a higher degree, then go and get it and there is a great chance it will be a pleasure. If not, the choice is yours, you can even study just to broaden your horizons.
I think you shouldn't go to college no matter what. There is so many opportunities in life, even for people who didn't graduate. So if you don't want to go to college, don't do it! There is no obligation to go to college it should be your choice. Nowadays there are so many people who didn't graduate and earn a lot of money, have awesome jobs, it only depends on what you know and what you are able to do.
Unknown said…
I don't like the possibility for everyone to go on university just because it's for free in Poland and they feel the peers pressure. Of course higher education gives you a social status which is desired, just as the doctor and teacher professions were and still are prestigious, however that does not mean studies are for everybody. Nowadays, I see to much people studing some useless, ridiculous free courses just for fun and to show off.
I think that higher education is not a necessity.Everyone must decide for himself if he needed it. I see meaning in higher education only when you want it and it develops you. Only if you will learn something new and interesting. Also, in universities there is the opportunity to communicate with very educated people who have invested much effort in acquiring their knowledge and can share it. In my opinion, you can and should go to study further, but only when you want it and only then it will give the desired result.
KamilG said…
It's very important what we want from our life. College offers education, which is helpful to get a job. I emphasize helpful, but not guaranteed. When you are looking for a job there are some requirements needed such as: knowledge, passion, experience from internship etc. Knowledge can be gained from experience and you can gain experience from working. So studying is not a determinant of getting a job, furthermore studying in college without a life target is just a waste of time and money.
Unknown said…
To develop our world and create new things we have to learn and try to think about that thing what we want to create. We also need to wondering what people need and which thing can help other people in their life. For my opinion higher education is must to survive. For now a lot of people study just for document not to learn something interesting and useful
Bartosz Łyżwa said…
In my opinion it's really importat to have higher education but only on the very beggining of career. Now, I'm engineer and it made me more trustworthy I think. Now I'm trying to get next elvel of my education but it's only for me - it doesn't matter in my profession as much. Of course it's only my point of view and I mean programmer here and it depends on every other point of view.
Unknown said…
In my opinion young people shouldn't do just what they parents want them to do.
I know many cases when young people are forced by their parents to study for example. medicine because they are doctors.
Hopefully my mother who is a doctor never told me that I have to be a doctor, she just asked me if I want to.
On the other hand there is no need to have a diploma cause many big corporations for example (EY) are looking for pro workers and they don't care about diploma, if you're good, they hire you.
Vyvyan said…
Idea. The first thig about live is to have an idea or a passion and follow it. You like wood? Like axes? Why not be a luberjack? Or perhaps a woodworker? Your passion is history? Go for it. Study history become archeologist. The point is:
No need to go to college if you do not feel like it's necesary.

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