Is it worth to go to college or university?

Is it worth to go to college or university? What undergraduate and graduate schools teach us today?

Probably many of you wonder if it is worth going to college or university today. In this article, I would like to share with you my thoughts on this subject. I myself graduated from a university — I did BA and MA degree. I did my BA at State Higher Vocational School in my hometown of Oświęcim, while my MA was awarded by AGH in Cracow.  I graduated in cultural and educational management and human resources management. I am aware that many people who are watching me now are students or people who are still in high school, which is why this topic is very important.

The college/university time is an interesting and I would say a very pleasant period in our lives. We are then relatively mature, but we are still learning and looking for our place in the world. We meet many new people, we try to start somehow in our professional life and gain our first experience in this area. During this period, there are also a lot of opportunities to have fun, because we often are away from the family home and we do not have too many commitments, life partners or offspring.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I finished my master’s degree. I will present you here my own thoughts and experiences after I finished my education and that of my friends who were in a similar situation.

What do you want from your life?

Here you should start and ask yourself this question. You will find out whether it is worth to go to college or university. The problem rises when you do not know what you want to do in life. Your goal and future life plans should determine your need (or lack of) to go to a university. For example, if you want to become a doctor, going to a university is unquestionable necessity. There are professions that, apart from the knowledge gained during your studies, require formal qualifications from you, so in such cases, higher education is a must. Your goals and your dreamed professional life will give you the answer to the question “is it worth going to university or college?”. Unfortunately, many people do not know what they want from life and chose random majors that do not give bright career outlook. That is why it is so important to set goals and priorities regardless of age.

You must have a goal and a vision

Think well what career you want to choose in life and what lifestyle you want to lead. If you want to become an entrepreneur and be successful, education in the form of studies and later looking for a job in the profession is not the best idea. You may want to become an employee in a large corporation, a doctor, a dentist, etc. Then a university is absolutely necessary. Give yourself time and think about what you want to achieve and what education you need for it.

Nowadays, knowledge is easily accessible and if you do not need formal education, you are able to study on your own what you want quickly and cheaply. Maybe your goal is to become an online entrepreneur, freeing yourself from employee routines of working from 9am to 17pm. If you want to have more freedom, then in this case you should not follow the path of formal education offered by society. It all depends on what you want from life — if you do not know what you want and where you want to come, you will hang around and get nowhere.

Is it worth to go to college or university? What does tertiary education give us?

Unfortunately, there are many people who have studied without any purpose and plans for the future. I have many friends who have graduated this way. They have completed majors that are very general and do not give any specific qualifications, and the number of graduates with such education is huge. The labour market immediately shows such graduates how the reality looks like. Having no professional skills, and an extremely ordinary diploma, a graduate will not be able to find anything interesting on the job market. In most cases, such people do not even know what they want from their lives after graduating.

I am the best example here. I thought it was necessary to go to college because my family said so. I completed management studies and after finishing my bachelor’s degree, not even a computer store or a cellphone store was willing to hire me. Fortunately, it forced me to develop and set up my own company. I have a lot of friends who, after graduation, find themselves in a new, harsh reality and work in various jobs, but most of them have not even been asked if they have a higher education. My career has been revolving around the food and beverage industry a long time in the restaurant world, where I met many waiters, bartenders with higher education gained somehow by the way.

What is the point of completing higher education and changing an interesting job, e.g. of a waiter to boring work for a clearly smaller money? How many people who work in a completely different profession than they studied for do you know? Is it true that all the peer pressure to do something should force you to waste many years on poor studies that won’t be of any help in your life? How much money and time has been wasted this way?

What are the advantages going to university or college?

Don’t get me wrong. Studies give us many skills and opportunities to meet new people. By going to classes, preparing for tests, reading and learning, we definitely develop. An additional positive factor is that studying often requires us to move to another city and change the environment. These are absolutely very valuable advantages of studying.

Is it worth to go to college or university? What matters is skills, not a “paper”

When I was a restaurant manager in Cracow, no one asked me about my tertiary education. As I started my company, I do not remember that I must have completed any formal education. By publishing books on Amazon, creating a blog, using online tools, creating graphic designs and recording videos, I used only my skills. I did not need any diploma for this. While managing the restaurant, I used advice from people better than me and books about management and personal development — in this case no diploma was necessary either.

The skills you need to achieve your goals are at your fingertips. Did you know that you can buy, for example, an online course for several hundred dollars that will tell you, step by step, how to publish books? You do not have to spend five years on going to classes and spend at least a dozen or hundred thousand dollars (even if your school is tuition-free, you have to live somehow). Did you know that you can read a good management book and you do not have to go to college at all? Did you know you can be the best in anything you want?

The answer is in you

Everything you do in your life, you do for yourself. So reflect thoroughly on you want from your life. Do not follow the momentum of the crowd. Do not let it make you think you need to do something. Do what is good for you. Graduating a good university and having a good job does not ensure success in your life. If you do something that does not give you satisfaction, what sense does it make? Remember that you will probably be old some day. Do you want to remember yourself as someone who forced themselves to work every day? Follow your passion and interests. If you do not know what is your passion yet, try new things and give yourself time.

In my family, almost everyone worked in car manufacturing factories. Every week looked the same — getting up to work early, coming back home in the evening, TV and so on. The very thought of such a lifestyle made me feel sick, but for a long time I took this direction unconsciously. After my graduation, I even got an internship at the Fiat factory in Tychy, but when they invited me for an interview after my internship I declined. My family was not happy about this. I didn’t understand it myself at the time, but I felt that following the path of studying and working from 8am to 4pm was definitely not for me.

Should you go to college or university?

If I had gone back in time today, I would not have decided to go to college. Or for sure I would not have chosen the same major (management). I did not learn any specific skills there. If you are now facing a choice and wondering if you should start to study, here is what I recommend:

• take your time to decide
• try different things, find your goal and passion
• travel and explore the world
• learn from the best

Remember that the best knowledge is the knowledge gained in real life and from people of success — not necessarily from lecturers, who, for example, in most cases did not even run their company. I personally learned the most about management in practice as a waiter and manager and by reading books and magazines. My university did not teach me even 1% of what I learned when working in a real organization combined with a desire for development. No book in a lecture room will ever be able to match the daily pursuit of your passion. Today, knowledge can be obtained for a fraction of the amount paid for tuition. A good book, an online course and learning from others — if you combine it with work or running your business, this is the best thing you can do for yourself when it comes to education.

Is it worth to go to college or university?

— listen to the podcast

Is it worth to go to college or university?

— watch the video

Is it worth to go to college or university? — preview the video transcript

1
00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:03,388
I’m Tomek. From Waiter to Millionaire.

2
00:00:03,500 –> 00:00:05,342
Today about studying.

3
00:00:06,460 –> 00:00:07,873
Is it worth it?

4
00:00:08,010 –> 00:00:10,346
Let me tell you my education story.

5
00:00:11,010 –> 00:00:13,340
My thoughts on whether is it worth studying.

6
00:00:14,010 –> 00:00:15,912
You may find it interesting.

7
00:00:16,060 –> 00:00:18,788
Stay with me to the end of this video.

8
00:00:24,060 –> 00:00:25,648
Is it worth it?

9
00:00:25,860 –> 00:00:28,842
You may think about a college or university.

10
00:00:29,300 –> 00:00:31,869
Maybe you are still before this stage of your life.

11
00:00:33,020 –> 00:00:36,754
Maybe you have just started or you think about a change or its sense.

12
00:00:38,260 –> 00:00:41,431
Maybe your friends go to college and you wonder if is it worth to do?

13
00:00:43,140 –> 00:00:45,367
I myself have a diploma.

14
00:00:45,780 –> 00:00:48,680
I completed my master’s degree extramurally.

15
00:00:53,640 –> 00:00:55,763
I did my BA intramurally.

16
00:00:56,009 –> 00:00:59,745
I graduated from the BA course in my family city, Oświęcim.

17
00:01:00,460 –> 00:01:03,898
Then, I finished my master’s degree at AGH.

18
00:01:05,700 –> 00:01:10,298
The major was management. So, I have the Msc title.

19
00:01:14,820 –> 00:01:16,919
What are my insights about studying?

20
00:01:17,620 –> 00:01:19,144
Is there any point?

21
00:01:19,260 –> 00:01:21,247
Probably you want to know the answer.

22
00:01:21,900 –> 00:01:25,998
In my opinion, the basic question you need to ask yourself is “What is your goal”?

23
00:01:29,930 –> 00:01:33,437
What is your vision for the next 5, 10, 15 years?

24
00:01:34,620 –> 00:01:37,382
What do you want to do professionally or in general.

25
00:01:40,000 –> 00:01:41,717
What kind of live you want?

26
00:01:42,180 –> 00:01:44,293
Your job defines your life.

27
00:01:44,490 –> 00:01:47,386
Where you work is not just your job, it is your life.

28
00:01:50,260 –> 00:01:54,547
Where you spend 8 hours a day, defines you and it is worth to consider your goals.

29
00:01:57,120 –> 00:01:59,550
It will tell you whether you need to go to college.

30
00:02:01,260 –> 00:02:06,190
If, for example, you want to become a doctor, lawyer, teacher, dentist and so on,

31
00:02:06,190 –> 00:02:11,120
I mean professions that require not only knowledge learned during studies, but also formal qualifications.

32
00:02:19,220 –> 00:02:22,669
If your plan for life, your goal or your vision, is to have such a profession,

33
00:02:22,669 –> 00:02:26,118
you should go to college or university, as it will give you a possibility, and without

34
00:02:26,118 –> 00:02:29,567
it, there is no option to do something like this at all in your life.

35
00:02:38,660 –> 00:02:40,992
So, think about your own way.

36
00:02:41,359 –> 00:02:43,890
As there are other paths you may want to take.

37
00:02:46,140 –> 00:02:49,182
If you want to be an entrepreneur, run a company, maybe you

38
00:02:49,182 –> 00:02:52,225
want to write, publish books, or be a waiter, a restaurant manager.

39
00:02:56,101 –> 00:02:58,238
It is from my point of view.

40
00:02:59,901 –> 00:03:02,705
Maybe you want to be a driver, or do anything else.

41
00:03:04,981 –> 00:03:10,406
But if it is something that does not require formal qualifications, a diploma, then you can safely let go.

42
00:03:12,818 –> 00:03:14,975
You can gain knowledge on your own.

43
00:03:16,021 –> 00:03:17,699
Times changed a bit.

44
00:03:18,041 –> 00:03:20,062
The school system changed.

45
00:03:20,141 –> 00:03:24,643
You are able to acquire knowledge through work, through learning, through reading books.

46
00:03:28,181 –> 00:03:31,720
Reading books does not have to take place in the lecture hall and you can as well work

47
00:03:31,720 –> 00:03:35,259
in the profession you want, and simultaneously study for what you will be doing in a while.

48
00:03:43,771 –> 00:03:46,908
I’ll tell you about my university experiences.

49
00:03:48,644 –> 00:03:52,350
Many people go to college or university not knowing why they do it at all.

50
00:03:56,021 –> 00:03:59,561
There is such a thing as social, parental and peer pressure.

51
00:04:00,141 –> 00:04:04,108
Often, people who don’t know what they want to do, which is normal, young people in

52
00:04:04,108 –> 00:04:08,076
their 20s, often older, even old people, do not know what they want to do.

53
00:04:13,421 –> 00:04:16,415
They go to a college because society tells them to.

54
00:04:16,901 –> 00:04:19,734
Study, you will learn and achieve something in life.

55
00:04:20,581 –> 00:04:25,109
The only problem is that studying or living without a goal, will get you nowhere.

56
00:04:29,221 –> 00:04:32,035
If you don’t know where you want to go, you may walk around

57
00:04:32,035 –> 00:04:34,850
in circles and not only get anywhere, but also get very frustrated.

58
00:04:37,741 –> 00:04:42,617
I started studying management, at pretty decent facilities, and I remember one of my first classes, where the

59
00:04:42,617 –> 00:04:47,494
Dean of Management in the first lecture said everyone who will buy her book has a passing grade.

60
00:04:55,941 –> 00:04:59,407
How many exams were there that where passed without any effort?

61
00:05:00,541 –> 00:05:04,486
Many times, I came to the exam, I sat down in the front,

62
00:05:04,486 –> 00:05:08,431
as I was prepared, while 90% of students, sat back, laughed and cheated.

63
00:05:10,701 –> 00:05:12,944
This is the reality of college.

64
00:05:14,021 –> 00:05:17,971
Lecturers who teach at universities are often theoreticians.

65
00:05:18,261 –> 00:05:20,893
They can’t teach us anything useful in future.

66
00:05:21,701 –> 00:05:26,493
We review old books and a lot of material, 99% of which won’t be useful later,

67
00:05:26,493 –> 00:05:31,285
because many people after graduation, even from good universities, often do something completely different in life.

68
00:05:39,201 –> 00:05:44,274
And all the knowledge from university is outdated, provided by people with little real-live experience.

69
00:05:47,501 –> 00:05:51,743
Often, people who give lectures, base on knowledge they gained in college.

70
00:05:52,661 –> 00:05:55,953
It’s kind of like photocopying a photocopy, right?

71
00:05:58,421 –> 00:06:00,602
And it’s not just my example.

72
00:06:00,621 –> 00:06:03,612
After graduation, I was confronted with reality.

73
00:06:04,221 –> 00:06:07,843
I didn’t get a job in a computer store, and in a mobile network store.

74
00:06:11,861 –> 00:06:13,763
These are just examples.

75
00:06:14,141 –> 00:06:16,666
I didn’t know where to start, what to do.

76
00:06:17,101 –> 00:06:19,105
It was me after graduation.

77
00:06:19,501 –> 00:06:23,530
Of course, I do not blame the college, but more the education system.

78
00:06:23,974 –> 00:06:26,169
Studies doesn’t give any knowledge.

79
00:06:26,700 –> 00:06:31,494
Especially general studies, with a lot of students, where they don’t teach anything specific.

80
00:06:33,248 –> 00:06:35,135
It doesn’t give you anything.

81
00:06:35,341 –> 00:06:38,317
If you don’t have any plan for yourself for later.

82
00:06:39,421 –> 00:06:44,971
After the college, I was disappointed. Indeed, I was stupid and did not know what I know now.

83
00:06:47,641 –> 00:06:51,266
No one’s to blame, but studies didn’t add anything interesting to my life.

84
00:06:53,181 –> 00:06:55,786
And the worst part is that I am not an exception.

85
00:06:56,386 –> 00:06:59,717
Over the past years, working in the food industry, I’ve seen a lot of

86
00:06:59,717 –> 00:07:03,048
people who worked as waiters or bartenders and were studying at the same time.

87
00:07:09,781 –> 00:07:11,459
I am from Cracow.

88
00:07:11,592 –> 00:07:17,367
And many people study and work as waiters or bartenders And I see these people graduating and facing reality.

89
00:07:23,021 –> 00:07:26,281
They need to send out their CVs to find a job in any company.

90
00:07:27,581 –> 00:07:30,855
It turns out these companies don’t even know who they are calling back to.

91
00:07:33,461 –> 00:07:37,329
People go to interviews for crappy jobs below their qualifications.

92
00:07:41,341 –> 00:07:44,625
Is it worth to give up a pretty well-paid job in the food industry to get

93
00:07:44,625 –> 00:07:47,910
a job that sucks, that can be done by anyone without a degree, for less.

94
00:07:52,181 –> 00:07:54,588
Does it make sense to study then?

95
00:07:56,501 –> 00:08:01,828
That’s why I keep emphasizing that when it comes to studying, your purpose in life is very important.

96
00:08:04,301 –> 00:08:08,277
Do you really need studies? If not, don’t study.

97
00:08:08,784 –> 00:08:12,003
You may only lose 5 years and end up disappointed.

98
00:08:12,361 –> 00:08:15,333
The fact that you can learn by yourself is very important.

99
00:08:16,040 –> 00:08:17,985
You don’t need a degree to do it.

100
00:08:18,381 –> 00:08:21,170
I’ll tell you something interesting in a second.

101
00:08:22,246 –> 00:08:25,539
Let me take a look at my notes so I don’t miss anything.

102
00:08:26,641 –> 00:08:30,177
Now, in contrast, something about the pros of studying.

103
00:08:31,781 –> 00:08:34,116
I have complained so much about college.

104
00:08:34,801 –> 00:08:37,427
You may think I am a great opponent of studying.

105
00:08:38,181 –> 00:08:39,549
I’m not.

106
00:08:39,564 –> 00:08:42,462
Studying often involves moving to another city.

107
00:08:43,901 –> 00:08:46,603
Let’s suppose you come from a small town, from a village, not

108
00:08:46,603 –> 00:08:49,306
from a huge city, and you want to change your life.

109
00:08:52,301 –> 00:08:56,707
Then, going to some even medium-quality university can be of great value to you.

110
00:08:58,947 –> 00:09:02,531
You can move to a dorm to Cracow, Warsaw or another city.

111
00:09:03,881 –> 00:09:06,984
Studying is nothing extraordinary, but here you are in a new

112
00:09:06,984 –> 00:09:10,087
place, you must rely on yourself with little help from others.

113
00:09:12,730 –> 00:09:15,149
You are able to meet interesting people and above all, you

114
00:09:15,149 –> 00:09:17,569
still have time to look for an idea for yourself.

115
00:09:20,861 –> 00:09:23,680
Attending a university in a big city develops you, lets you

116
00:09:23,680 –> 00:09:26,500
meet people, gives you the chance to look for the idea.

117
00:09:28,413 –> 00:09:31,007
Not necessarily related to your major.

118
00:09:32,069 –> 00:09:35,732
Don’t worry. Many world greatest people of success, but also those

119
00:09:35,732 –> 00:09:39,394
unknown, met cool people in college and then their adventure began.

120
00:09:43,133 –> 00:09:46,612
Maybe they gave up and took their own path to their own business.

121
00:09:48,653 –> 00:09:50,086
Graduated.

122
00:09:50,186 –> 00:09:52,236
Maybe they were working full-time.

123
00:09:52,425 –> 00:09:56,953
But many actually found their vocation and purpose by studying in another city.

124
00:09:58,711 –> 00:10:01,044
I don’t want to say it is not worth to do it.

125
00:10:02,871 –> 00:10:04,453
By no means.

126
00:10:05,071 –> 00:10:06,923
It is skills that count.

127
00:10:07,138 –> 00:10:09,959
Focus on the skills required to achieve your goal.

128
00:10:13,568 –> 00:10:16,336
The thing about life is always that your skills, your connections, what

129
00:10:16,336 –> 00:10:19,104
you can do will allow you to achieve what you want.

130
00:10:25,951 –> 00:10:29,505
Your paper, college diploma alone will never get you what you want.

131
00:10:33,299 –> 00:10:35,095
It is not like that.

132
00:10:35,195 –> 00:10:39,703
What counts in life is your skills, what you represent, what you are capable of doing.

133
00:10:43,096 –> 00:10:48,564
So, focus on your skills, on your goal, on your vision, and you will definitely achieve what you want.

134
00:10:51,290 –> 00:10:54,894
Because the answer is within you, not within your diploma.

135
00:10:59,276 –> 00:11:02,331
If you are unsure about your decision, take time.

136
00:11:03,856 –> 00:11:07,613
Maybe you are now facing the decision whether to go to college this year or not.

137
00:11:09,976 –> 00:11:12,395
If you don’t know what is your goal take some time.

138
00:11:15,376 –> 00:11:18,169
Maybe give yourself a year or two after high school.

139
00:11:19,816 –> 00:11:21,953
Or perhaps you are a little bit older.

140
00:11:22,925 –> 00:11:25,378
Give yourself some time, think about it.

141
00:11:26,176 –> 00:11:29,307
Try different things, maybe this job or another.

142
00:11:31,380 –> 00:11:33,362
Maybe an online business.

143
00:11:33,736 –> 00:11:37,290
Try the business I deal with. Think about it.

144
00:11:39,610 –> 00:11:42,753
Finally, you’ll get to know if it’s worth to study.

145
00:11:43,452 –> 00:11:46,523
Maybe travel a little bit, maybe go somewhere.

146
00:11:48,216 –> 00:11:52,720
Over time, a vision of what you want to do in your life will clarify, and you’ll have the answer.

147
00:11:55,633 –> 00:11:58,375
about you going to a university or college.

148
00:11:59,148 –> 00:12:02,585
Once you know what you want to do, it will be a very simple question.

149
00:12:06,136 –> 00:12:08,776
If you liked this video, give me a thumb up.

150
00:12:09,456 –> 00:12:11,769
I hope I gave you valuable insights.

151
00:12:13,456 –> 00:12:18,989
Subscribe to my channel if you want to learn more about similar topics, about life, earning on the Internet.

152
00:12:23,416 –> 00:12:25,512
I talk about publishing books.

153
00:12:25,976 –> 00:12:28,866
I encourage you to watch my other videos.

154
00:12:29,332 –> 00:12:31,041
Thanks for your attention.

155
00:12:31,436 –> 00:12:32,670
Bye.