More and more people are regretting their choice to go to college and pursuit a degree that they aren’t going to use for their careers.
While I do wish I had known about the opportunities to make a living online earlier in life, here are some reasons why I don’t regret getting a useless degree.
Table of Contents
1. To fulfill a childhood dream
I had gone to my first choice university to my first choice program. To me, it was a dream come true.
I worked really hard to get there. It was a lot of late-night studying, stressing out about assignments, sitting, memorizing, learning, etc.
Not many people can live their childhood dream but I did.
University of Toronto is the best ranking school in Canada and is one of the best on the world stage as well.
Did you know that Elon musk’s mother had worked at UofT for some time in the past and Elon had spent some time at the UofT campus growing up?
I used to look at people wearing University of Toronto sweaters and feel a sense of admiration for them.
I volunteered at UofT throughout my high school years and when I saw the email that I had gotten into my dream school, I was ecstatic.
I know not everyone can relate to the excitement and happiness that comes with getting into college because not everyone want to go to college or have a dream school but it was pure happiness that I felt as I read that email.
So yes, I don’t regret going to college because it fulfilled a childhood dream of mine.
2. I Met a lot of amazing people
Many of my professors at UofT were world-renowned figures in their fields. You would see them in documentaries and they get invited to TedTalks.
Most of them were chill and made the classes really fun. They were accommodating as well so if you had an exam on the same day as the due date of an assignment in class, most would push it back.
Many students and I would attend office hours and we’d just talk with the professor as if it was a tea party or some casual hangout with friends.
Beyond professors and teaching assistants, there were also many amazing people from my class.
Most of my peers were nice and hard-working at uni.
I didn’t really feel too connected to people in my high school when I was there (although I had no beef with anyone).
And when I started college, I was surprised by how many like-minded people I could find especially in my program of choice.
Could I have met amazing people elsewhere? Maybe at a conference or event or something?
Yes, I could have but there’s something about being there in class with other students all working hard to achieve something.
The kind of camaraderie and shared experience is beyond what you would feel had you gone to an event or a conference that is over in a few days.
Some of the best moments of my time in college were when my friends and I were walking around in the nearly empty school at 8 pm because we got an exam at 9 pm.
We’d be stressed but still manage to joke around a bit. It’s through those shared suffering that you establish closer connections with your peers.
3. Enhanced my communication and interpersonal skills
I wasn’t always good at talking or communicating what I have on my mind in fact, I think that’s the case with most people their whole lives.
Communication skills and interpersonal skills are some of the most essential skills that you should aim to establish in life.
It not only impacts your career, business, and friendship but influences how likely it is that you’d get a divorce in the future.
Nobody wants a divorce or a broken home for their kids and learning how to communicate properly is going to prevent a lot of that potential.
University was more than a place for me to learn things, it was a setting for a lot of forced interaction with others that you’d eventually get better at.
Yes, you can certainly meet people and interact with them in other settings but since those interactions aren’t mandatory or forced, you’d sort of have to learn to cross the first boundary which can be hard for a 17-year-old introvert.
School on the other hand, in many cases, forces you to talk to the person sitting next to you about a question in class or work with teammates assigned to you.
I was really shy growing up. If you ask any of my former peers before uni who was the shyest person in the class, 7 out of 10 people would point you to me.
But with uni, I was living on my own and I had to figure out a way to make new friends by pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Otherwise, I’d really have no one to talk to outside of class.
I can now comfortably talk to anyone without getting nervous or antsy.
I can strike up a conversation with anybody and it’d feel as natural as getting groceries.
Some people are even surprised to hear me say that I’m an introvert because at times I really don’t act like it.
The ease with which I can start and hold a conversation with anyone wouldn’t have come if I hadn’t gone to university and been forced to interact with so many people.
4. A great alumni community
The University of Toronto has a great alumni network. They have cruises, parties, conferences, and trips to other countries reserved for UofT alumni (although you can bring a guest who isn’t an alumnus of the school).
You can establish really good networks with those who are successful in their fields.
In fact, many UofT alumni are well known on the world stage.
There are also many programs such as book clubs that you can join with other alumni after you’re no longer a student at the school.
I’m sure you have a similar alumni network at your school as well.
One of the perks of going to college and finishing is the exclusive community you’d be welcome into.
5. A testament to my intelligence with my academic achievements
I wasn’t always so confident about my intelligence and let me tell you something before I go further, “having a degree doesn’t mean you’re smart and not having one doesn’t mean you aren’t smart”.
However, there were times in uni when my intelligence was really tested and it felt really cool to come out on top.
For instance, there was this really difficult statistic exam where the class average came out to about 50% yet I finished with flying colors.
I got a 97%, the highest grade in the statistics class out of 500+ students.
Half the class dropped the course when they learned their grades.
Good grades don’t necessarily mean you are smart but in the context of a really difficult exam where most of the class failed I think it cement an idea in me that I was a pretty smart cookie 🙂
And no, I don’t remember how to do any of the statistic questions.
Furthermore (pushing up glasses :D), I think it’s worth noting that there are many different types of intelligence so if you aren’t good at math, you may still score high on other forms of intelligence.
6. Developed well-rounded knowledge
There are a lot of ignorant people in the world and I think a lack of education has something to do with it.
Here are some comments I’ve had the misfortune to witness on social media:
- “Women make less than men because they work fewer hours”
The truth is, for every $1 men make, women make $80 cents.
There is also wage disparity between the different races of women.
Asian women earn the most compared to other races of women, followed by white women. Blacks and Hispanic women earn a lot less than white men.
- “How can humans evolve from monkeys when they are still around? It’s fake! We were created in the image of God”
Well, humans did evolve from “monkeys” (human ancestors were in the New World Monkeys branch about 26 million years ago) but it’s not the same monkeys that exist today. They also evolved too. they don’t look the same as their ancestors.
We do share some common ancestors with the monkeys that exist today.
- “Earth is flat”
No, Earth is not flat. Earth has never been flat. If Earth was flat, we would not experience the seasons or the 24 hours day like we do today.
Even though much of what is taught in school is available online, people don’t always seek out that knowledge so they may come to lack certain vital perspectives
When in school, there are mandatory courses to take in various disciplines outside of your chosen program that can round out your knowledge in different fields.
I’ve taken courses on environmentalism, psychology, computer science, anthropology, music theory, Earth, biology, chemistry, statistics, research, health studies, etc.
After school was over, I’ve met many people who had inadvertently showed me just how little they know about most various matters, and those who claimed to be “nerds” and “smart” don’t really know as much as I do and I know I still don’t know most things.
7. A sense of pride
It’s not that having a degree makes me superior to anybody who doesn’t have a degree but it’s how a degree reflects the amount of hard work that I’ve invested.
It takes a lot of time, energy, patience, persistence, and discipline to get in and out of college and I did it!
Even though the degree is kind of “useless” it nevertheless is an irrefutable piece of evidence of my diligence, determination, and willpower.
8. A sense of belonging
We all want to feel belonged and I feel very proud to belong to the University of Toronto community.
The sense of belonging that comes from being a student or an alumna of a university is amazing.
You can still find belonging elsewhere outside of school if you want but the unique university/college community itself cannot be replicated elsewhere.
You just can’t walk up to someone at an event and said “Oh, you went to ___ too? Me too! Did you have Dr. William for Psychology too? That was a fun class haha. Oh my goodness, I wonder how he’s doing now!”.
9. Taught me great research and critical thinking skills
Information on the internet is nothing if you don’t know how to search for it.
There is much groundbreaking research that is only available in scientific papers and no one has made a YouTube video on it yet.
The ability to learn how to find and read scientific papers is a skill not many have and I was taught by the best people in the world on how to do exactly that.
It gives me insights into knowledge and the most updated data that the vast majority of people don’t have access to.
It’s true what they said, “knowledge is power!”.
Not to mention how I have access to a huge database of research papers that are available to alumni at my school.
If you were to buy each research paper, it’d cost you thousands of dollars per paper.
Even if I make 10 million per year, I’d still rather put those thousands into a stock than on a paper I’d finish reading in a few hours.
10. Established my writing skills
Okay, no doubt I would have the same writing skills if I wasn’t forced to write so many papers for school.
I must have written millions of words in my lifetime.
And even after school is over, look at how much I still write!
Uni was a place where I established some confidence in my writing ability. It’s not perfect but it still is something 🙂
11. Gave me time to figure out what I want
Everybody in my school went to college or university after high school. There are probably less than 10% who didn’t go.
I went to a very nerdy high school where everyone want to become an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, etc, and studied really hard to get there.
It would’ve been surprising news had I not gone to college.
I’m not saying you should care about how people think about your life choices but as 17 years old, seeing all my peers head to college and me not doing the same would no doubt make me feel lonely.
University gave me the time to figure out what I want instead of jumping directly into work where I may stay for the next 10, 20, or 30 years of my life because the pay is good.
There were many people who didn’t go to college and become a realtor instead. They are doing fine but for many at 18, fresh out of high school, college is a natural path to take and one that doesn’t make you feel like you are behind in life when you haven’t figured it out yet.
12. Still one of my proudest accomplishments to this date
Getting my bachelor’s degree is still one of my proudest accomplishments today and I know I’ll gather more accomplishments to be proud of but to fulfill a childhood dream? That thing made me the person I am today.
It gave me confidence and a sense of pride.
I always feel good when people ask me where I went to college. And seeing many of their reactions inadvertently brings me a sense of confidence.
Much of our confidence comes from how well we did in our career and at 22, being a UofT alumnus no doubt gives me a huge self-esteem boost 😎 😉
Would I go to university again if given the choice?
Yes, I would 100%.
I have met so many amazing people and learned so much beyond textbooks and lectures that I don’t think I would be the same person today had I not gone to uni.
But here’s what I would do differently:
- Care about grades way less (seriously, who cares about straight A’s?)
- Go out with friends more and study less
- Focus on my side hustles and businesses more
- Stress out less because grades don’t mean anything
- Don’t rush with anything. Know that it’s okay to take an extra year
I’m still young, and still have a lot left to experience and discover.
Even though I spent most of my university years in front of a book or laptop studying, it doesn’t mean all is lost and that I wasted my life.
I think it really showed me how much self-discipline I have to put up with things I don’t necessarily enjoy.
No doubt this persistence and self-control skill would come in handy in my current businesses and future endeavors.
For now, I’m using the same skills I developed as a student in my businesses. I’m able to delay gratification and seek my rewards later on and persist when setbacks arrive.
I can still live my life and enjoy my life later on.
You don’t have to stop having fun even if you aren’t a student anymore.
In fact, I’d argue that post-university/college life can be more fun especially if you have the financial freedom and time freedom to pursue it.
Is college or university for you?
College can be expensive. Most of what you can learn if not more can be found online.
If you’re going to school for the sake of getting the degree necessary for your chosen career, then, by all means, go for it. You really have no choice. I mean you can’t become a doctor with a bachelor’s degree.
However, if you aren’t going to college for a specific career, college may not be worth it for you.
If I hadn’t gone to college or had dropped out I think I would justify why it was the right choice but since I didn’t I’m a bit biased towards why I would decide to do it again.
To me, university was extremely stressful but it was the years where I learned how to become less shy, how to talk to anyone, how to start a blog (on my own outside of the school curriculum), and how to start a business online (again self-taught), how to exert more confidence, how to be unapologetically me, how to be self-positive, how to read people, how to deal with different characters (even difficult ones), how to make friends, etc.
Those experiences wouldn’t have come to me if I hadn’t gone to college.
I think I would see myself very differently if I wasn’t a bachelor’s degree holder. I think I would be less confident in my intelligence and in what I do know.
Final thought
At times I’d look at people who are ahead of me in life. People who are my age (or roughly my age) and have already built well-established businesses that provide them a very easy lifestyle.
Meanwhile, I’m still working very hard on my businesses.
I’m not exactly to the point of being able to work 5 hours a week and use the rest of the time to do whatever I want whenever I want wherever I want yet (although I know I’ll get there) while making a high 6 or 7 figure per year.
However, I look at most people who have gotten there at my age and see that they’ve made their share of sacrifices.
Many of them didn’t go to college, dropped out, or took longer to finish.
I’m not saying getting a bachelor’s on time is superior to other scenarios but I’m pointing out the fact that those people who have gotten there at a young age do deserve their success. They have prioritized their businesses before other things and now they’re enjoying the fruit of their labor.
I’m looking at my life and thinking to myself how different my life would’ve been now had I prioritized my businesses before school.
Still, after everything, I would still choose to go to college if I was taken back 5 years.
There’s no need to rush to accomplish anything in life. I take it at my own pace. I will get there. There is no doubt about it.
I’m convinced that I would not have performed as well in my businesses if I hadn’t gotten as much knowledge and skills out of my experience from university.
To me, it’s something I’ll always feel proud of even if it is “useless” on paper.
