“What colleges have you attended?” asks the daily writing prompt. Not the question I would normally choose to answer. Mostly because it’s limited in one sense. My official college resume would read 1 year at Catonsville Community College as an Applied Art and Design major.
And it wasn’t a full year because I got a full-time job with a ton of overtime at the start of my second semester and didn’t even complete a few courses in that one. I knew I barely had the money to pay for the second year and I kind of liked the job and so began my career in Newspapers.
In reality, I went to the school of life. When your Dad dies young and you find your Mom wondering how to pay the bills you buck up and get to work young. And you quickly learn crap flows downhill. You also learn who can talk the talk and walk the walk. That bulls**t doesn’t fly unless you’re surrounded by idiots.
You learn how to stick up for yourself because there are a lot of selfish people out there. You will find those who will betray honesty to get ahead. You might run into some who will take credit for other’s work. You may find people who put their heads where the sun doesn’t shine in an attempt to please the boss.
None of that crap matters though because hard work, knowledge, dedication, team play, and willingness to speak up even when the room is silent will get you a long way. Just don’t get too outspoken (my flaw).
Don’t get me wrong, I think college and all education is great. I’ve continuously tried to improve myself throughout my entire career by learning. Some courses I could take specific to my job or the one above me be it technical or management orientated. A lot of it by self taught with manuals and trial and error. So if anyone would say to me RTFM I would reply, I did so show me where I’m F’ing wrong. Nothing sweeter than a tech rep saying “Oh you’re right, I’ll have to get back to you on why it’s not working.” Well, there is one thing sweeter, telling them what the solution is.
But here is why I think college is important. I kind of fell haphazardly into my career. I was lucky. But after a few years, I saw those with degrees starting better off after college. I saw them earning more. I saw them in better positions in my own company and others. I saw it becoming such a qualifying thing to just get in the door for interviews.
It was at that time I knew I wanted my children to have the opportunity to go to college and I worked my ass off to make that happen and it did. I’m thankful to them for applying themselves, making the most of it, and getting their degrees. So I’m going to revel in their success.
And if I went to college it would have just looked like the movie Animal House, so it’s better that society avoided that.
