.com/content/posts/090901-your_degree_is_worthless;_collaborate.rst

Your Degree Is Worthless; Collaborate.
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:date: 2009-09-01 21:17
:category: Life


I’ve always been a self-motivated learner as well as a free
thinker. I was never one to get involved in cliques or social
ladders. Despite the fact that I was raised being constantly told
that grades were the single most important thing in my life, I
could never accept that. So I didn’t. I just did enough to get by.
I didn’t pay attention much in class. I had no reason to. Class was
beyond boring. So I’d spend all hours of the night hacking away on
my computer, soaking in all I could, and most of the school day
sleeping during class when I could get away with it. When there was
a test, I’d try my hardest to stay awake, answer the questions as
best I could – typically earning a low C in my Honors/AP Classes,
and a low B in my “Ordinary” Classes. I found a good balance. Why
would I study for 30 hours a week to get better grades when I could
get by with 0 hours? So, I graduated. And I did the next logical
thing: I went to college. Ahh, college. The most important decision
you could ever make in your life. The time to “make it or break
it”. Where every young man goes to be become a man. So I went.
While high-school never engaged me, I assumed that courses about
career-relevant subjects would interest me in a university setting.
I was wrong. I was very, very wrong. 

College Life 
------------ 

I studied Plato, Homer, and Socrates, Turing Machines, and
Single-State-Automata. I analyzed the progression of American
Popular Music from the 1920s to today. I learned how to draw, play
the marimba properly, and splatter paint on walls. I attempted
jujitsu. Wonderful life experience. But what does any of this have
to do with setting the foundation of a career? Nothing. At all. Of
course, the higher up you go, the more relevant the courses get to
your chosen major. But I didn’t want to wait. Especially when I was
paying $20,000 a year for this. It was mostly useless information.
The average college education in America costs 9 cents a minute.
Every minute. Every day. A complete waste. And I was working 35
hours a week as a graphics design intern, working at odd hours of
the night, attempting to pay for all of this. It was impossible,
and I was unengaged. 

The Plunge
----------

So, after totally losing
interest in class or anything related to it, I gave up and dropped
out. I didn’t want to get further in debt. So I moved back home,
defeated, and tried my hardest to get my life back in order. I got
my high-school job back at McDonald’s. I worked harder than I ever
have in my life. I didn’t have anything else better to do, so I
worked as much as I could all the time. I worked one 65 hour week -
but that got old really fast. I was again, unengaged. Then, one
day, I quit McDonald’s without notice. Not best practice of
course, but I didn’t want to spend any more time there. It’s
strange what a terrible work environment it is. After a few short
weeks, you begin to think there isn’t anything outside those walls.
It was clear that it wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I set out with
my laptop to try to find something better. 


How It All Turned Around
------------------------ 

I spent a lot of time on some freelance
websites, where you bid for odd jobs, usually settling for some
ridiculously low amount of money here and there. That didn’t last
long. I remembered coming across a guy on Twitter from my hometown,
Winchester, Virginia, who was quite into the internet and
technology. That’s pretty rare in these parts, so I looked him up.
What I found was a local `cowork <http://brightcowork.com>`_
center. I went and checked out the cowork, and what I found blew my
mind. In this little building off the historic old-town walking
mall was a room. Inside: the COO of a major internet company, tech
consultants, graphic designers, writers, author, bloggers,
freelancers, and so much more. I met everyone in and around town. I
sat in on think tank lunches. People cared about what I had to say.
We collaborated. 


Collaboration is Everything.
---------------------------- 

For the first time in my life, I was meeting
interesting people with awesome experience, willing to share and
collaborate what they have learned with me. And I did the same. I
soaked in endless amounts of information. One simple room full of a
few people turned on some switch in me that the education system
had failed to do year after year after year: teach me something. I
was finally engaged. \*Fully\* engaged. As soon as I realized that,
my entire life changed. I started thriving on my own, getting
dozens of clients. Suddenly, I had a life with significantly less
stress and worry. No tuition fees! I realized how valuable my
skills were and how I didn’t have to be part of the institution if
I didn’t want to be. I rose above. I am now a Web Applications
Developer at a respectful technology firm. No degree. No debt. Only
an open mind. I gain more knowledge and experience in a single
workday than I did during my entire college career. I’m in the real
world. And I’m loving every minute of it. 


In Conclusion
------------- 

Looking back, I’m comfortable saying that dropping
out of college has been the best decision I’ve ever made. If I
would have gone through the entire education program, what would I
have to show for it? $150,000 in debt, a piece of paper, and four
years less of your life. No real experience. No connections. Just a
piece of paper. And nothing more. Please bear these things in mind
before you decide to spend $150,000 on a bachelor’s degree in a
field you’re not so certain about. Personally, I’d rather spend
that money on something that will actually benefit me: like a
house.