It's interesting how we're brought up to believe that college is the key to living a happy and successful life. I'm not saying this notion is incorrect -- certainly, college (and education in general) can open up a lot of doorways that may not have been possible to open otherwise -- but I feel like the emphasis on college as a golden key to happiness has been so overemphasized that a lot of people these days falsely see it as something that entitles a person to financial and personal success, rather than as a
tool to such success that has to be wielded by the individual in order to be useful. From the time we step foot into our first kindergarten class, we're told that the further we go with our education, the more wealth and success we'll attain, but how often are we given the sharp reality that diplomas and degrees are essentially no more than sheets of paper with no meaning to them unless we go out and use them to our advantage? By that I mean that just earning a diploma or degree isn't going to get you anything if you don't forcefully and purposely take control of your future and make a concerted effort to differentiate yourself from the pack and aggressively go after what you want.
The analogy that comes to mind is that of a shopper. A person doesn't simply wander down a street with money in his/her hand, hoping to end up somewhere nice to spend that money. Instead, the shopper knows exactly what he/she wants or needs, plans ahead to find a store (or other place) that will fulfill that need, then goes directly to that store in the most purposeful and efficient manner possible. To me, this is the approach to education that needs to be taken: know ahead of time what you want out of your degree, plan ahead to figure out the exact route you need to take in order to get what you want as efficiently as possible, and then proceed down that route. After all, the degree in your hand isn't going to make magic happen by itself -- it only has value as a tool that enables you to succeed in the path you've chosen to take, once you figure out what that path is and where it ultimately is going to lead.
