Hey there! You being an old-timer around here, I’m glad you commented on this one. Had a feeling this would be one of those posts to elicit lots of comments.

Your little list of things you learned is exactly what I took away from school as well. In fact, after I read your comment I started thinking about my schooling and how much damn fun it was. I take it a bit for granted now that I’m very able to learn what I want, when I want. But probably a lot of that came from college.

Kelly -

Well, yeah, Portland is wet. And not very hippie at all. Except for portions of it.

You made a really good point about being a fast student and being able to knock out more work. College is one of those places where you get out of it what you put in.

A musician guy I schooled with never practiced outside of class. He rock-climbed instead. So…come graduation day, he wasn’t exactly a musician yet. It would be pretty easy to blame it on school (as my post sort of does, unintentionally) but who’s fault is it really?

James -

Luckily for you and me and Kelly and Cam, college will be there for us whenever we decide to go back. I’ll be doing Computer Science and you’ll be getting your PhD in Chainsaw Juggling.

I can’t see you going to school for…shit, writing, business, consulting or being generally awesome. You’ve already got those nailed, bub.

I dropped out of CEGEP with six months to go, and went to work for 15 years. I regretted dropping out immediately.

People would ask me what my dream is in life, and I’d answer automatically, “Finish my education.” I held onto that dream as tight as I could, and a few years ago, I finally went back to school.

And now, I had experience behind me. I learned because I wanted to. I enjoyed it. And…

I stopped. I started a business, got too much work and something had to go. School was it.

But – three years later, one year short of my BA degree, and I realize that I am now a professional in many areas. Copywriting, Marketing, Branding, Business Consult, Design Consult… many things. Why?

Because I self-educated based on interest. The cost today is dead low, and access is wide open. The psychology degree I wanted? I still want it. But it’s easier and faster to learn on my own and work while learning, applying the new knowledge.

I even taught myself to juggle.

So will I finish my education? Yes. It’s still my dream. But it’s a desire, and not an obligation to succeed. I already have success because I believe in me and my ability to learn what I need to know to make it.

Cheaper, for sure. But there’s a lot of trial and error in learn-as-you-go, so I don’t know if it’s always better or even faster… even though I hear you on moving at the speed of the slowest student.

I always found that if you’re one of the fastest students, you can blast out a lot more work and learning by simply taking the requirements as minimums, not sitting back to coast every time you’ve reached “the end” of a lesson/book/assignment. Treat it like a job and rock it out. Now that’s practice for the real world.

Portland sounds kinda more hippie than I pictured. Mostly ‘cuz all I picture is wet. Hm.

Cam,

I love your “what I learned.” Totally agree on all of them.

One thing I can definitely say, without my BFA I would never have learned to present/defend as well nor as diplomatically. Nothing since has been so harsh, nor required so much tact, as going before a panel of smug, grumpy profs once a semester to explain myself and get the green light to go on. If folks had to do that in every course of study, we’d turn out far more articulate college grads.

Until later,

Kelly

Honestly I have to say I see both sides of the argument.

I’m happy to say I survived the “dotcomarama” days and saw many of my peers – who had very little in the way of college education – get rich beyond their wildest dreams… but it was a fluke.

They were in the right place at exactly the right time, and they knew people.

Right now I’m not doing anything remotely close to my college major. But that’s okay. What I learned through school was how to:

- Reason
- Stand up for what I thought was right
- Explain myself clearly (may not be doing that now…)
- Solve problems creatively

The other thing college taught me was CONFIDENCE. I knew I could finish something that stretched my limits and was difficult at times. Some of my friends quit when it got too hard.

Getting out of high school with a diploma doesn’t take much these days. Graduating from college still does.

If you have the drive, determination, stick-to-it-iveness and are willing to slog through the crap when things get hard – you don’t need college.

Oh, and I also learned how to drink copious amounts of beer. I probably could have learned that without a degree though.

-Cam

Excellent response! I love it!

I too love school, love learning, love the community. I’ve even toyed with going back again for Computer Science.

But one thing has become very clear to me in my post-college days: there are very few things you can’t learn better, faster, cheaper all by yourself. Either by using the internet, Barnes & Noble or actually apprenticing.

I went to a sort of unusual high-school, where we were required to apprentice in our chosen fields. If you can imagine a bunch of 16, 17 and 18 year-old kids terrorizing law firms, high-tech companies and claymation studios in Portland, Oregon…that was us.

Then we go to college and all of a sudden there’s this huge squealing sound as we put on the brakes.

Learning is an awesome thing. Being smart is an awesome thing. And College can be an awesome thing. It’s just not nearly as awesome as living and working for real.

Kelly, you rock! Thanks for this…