Sometimes Your Degree Is Just a Fancy Piece of Paper
And sometimes it can open fancy doors. Do I regret going to college? Absolutely not. I’ve learned a lot about myself during that period, made a great deal of friends whom I still love to this day, and I suppose most important…I learned a lot.
Despite having both my bachelors and masters, it’s not too often that I actually use either degree in my day-to-day work. One may say ‘Well, you’re no longer working in fashion. If you worked in fashion, your degrees would serve a purpose’. And I would say ‘True.’ There’s no argument there.
But I, like most people, are human. We evolve. It’s a very limited number of people that I’ve met throughout life who’ve maintained their dreams of pursuing a particular career field. So much life experience has led to wanting to pursue other endeavors.
However, it’s something about pursuing these credentials that can make it so challenging for people to switch careers and pursue something new. A common thing I’ve heard from my peers is “Well, I spent years getting my degrees and now all that money and time would go to waste if I change careers. I might as well stay where I am.” Well, that’s life. There’s a sizable amount of things we do which sometimes “goes to waste”. But sometimes, we’re able to salvage the parts of us that were developed while obtaining a degree. Those are the transferrable skills which we take with us in our new careers. My advice? Don’t let lost time and money stop you from pursuing something that’ll light your fire.
As for the fancy doors, well, I’d be remiss to speak to some of the opportunities I’ve been given due to having my degrees. They become a status symbol, especially if you went to the “right” school. And the “right” school is often relative to the situation.
As someone who works in tech, it often doesn’t matter in most settings that I graduated from SCAD. In those moments, my degree is really just a fancy piece of paper. But I’m very thankful for those moments where my background is appreciated. When I worked in the XR space, there were folks who took notice and really gave my background meaning. It made me feel good - but I won’t go down the rabbit hole of the problem with seeking external validation. Also, to be fair, XR is a creative space. And SCAD is a school for creative careers. The two go hand in hand together.
Despite what I’ve come to feel about higher education, I still love school. I sometimes fight my urge to still pursue yet one more degree. But if I ever choose to go back to school, it’ll have to be for a higher purpose beyond obtaining a degree for a career. Not sure what that purpose may be but until I find it, I’ll save on spending more money on tuition.
