If a college degree is the most interesting thing about you, you’re boring
Truly. Look around the average college classroom. I’ll give you a minute to wait for a few students to pull their hungover heads up from their desks…
Take it in. Now remember, what you’re buying is a piece of paper that says, “I’m probably no worse than these people.” Pretty thin calling card.
A lot of students agree with this, an
d say stuff like, “College sucks and the degree won’t get me a job, but I’m making it valuable by working and networking on my own and doing a bunch of side projects.” That’s great, and necessary. But then why are you still paying tuition? It’s only slowing you from the valuable stuff and instilling bad habits that actually make you less valuable in the real world. (Why do you think professors are so scared of free-markets?)
Get busy building a track record of skills and experiences that make your degree status the least interesting thing about you
I’m not talking about the future, I’m talking about right now
People think the past informs us abo
ut the present, but the future is a better source. The day the automobile became commercially viable, the buggy whip industry died. It wasn’t going to die, it was already dead. Most people just didn’t know it for a while.
The coolest part is that the something better
that’s supplanted the degree isn’t locked behind any door. The something better is you. You are your own credential. Your knowledge, network, skill, experience
and ability to show how they can help others are your calling card
Bottom line, if you’re sharp and have half an ounce of hustle, a degree is a bad investment compared to your other options. But if you’re so lazy and uncreative that you’re incapable of building a better signal, buying the I’m average paper actually raises your perceived value.