Why should I get a degree?
There are so many good reasons to get a degree! Here are 11! 11? Yes, this list goes to 11.
- Money! College graduates make more money than workers with no college degree, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Choices! More jobs available means you get to be pickier when you’re looking for jobs.
- Knowledge! You’ll be better prepared for so many things in your life as a result of the broad education you receive as an undergraduate.
- Resilience! College degrees help prepare you for the inevitable pitfalls and scrapes and bruises of life. When times get tough, you’ll have resources that you wouldn’t have if you hadn’t gone to college, including (see #1!)
- Marketability! Your degree will give you choices and open doors. The early jobs and the experience you get on the early jobs will open more doors, making you even more marketable. See how that works?
- Elementary! Like Sherlock Holmes, you’ll learn to think critically, deduce, and reason. Well, maybe more like Watson.
- Justice! Be an agent of social justice and change. A college degree is often required by organizations that serve public needs. Besides the possibilities after you graduate, college is a great place to get involved in volunteering, and volunteer work looks great on a resume!
- Resources! Not only will you be better off financially, but college is a time to build networks that will help you later in life. Your roommate, study buddy, volunteer friend, and that cute student 3 seats down in history may someday be your lawyer, favorite football player, Senator, and spouse! The president of the Alumni association you join may be your first employer. You never know who the person you meet today will be in your life 10 years from now!
- Opportunity! Right now you’re just thinking about getting through the next 4 years or so, getting a good job, and living your life, but maybe someday you’ll want to go to graduate school. If you have your undergraduate degree, you’ll be ready to pursue your next dream, whatever it may be.
- Pride! Whether you’re the first in your family to graduate or your family is all Doctors, you’ll know that you’ve accomplished something when you finish your degree. It may be just the first step in your educational journey, or it may be as far as you want to go, but either way, it shows the ability to plan, study, focus, and complete a difficult and sometimes arduous task.
- Ripples! Did I get you with that one? It’s easy to think about the benefits that college has on us personally, but did you know that it can also have a huge benefit for your (potential) children? You’ve seen all the benefits you can have that will impact your future home, creating a better life and social structure for your children, but studies show that when at least one parent of a child has a college degree, that child is more likely to go to college also and successfully obtain their degree. You can be proud knowing that, even if you were the first in your family to go to college, it’s likely you won’t be the last. College can be a legacy that will ripple down through generations for many decades to come.