17/08/2026
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹👩🏻🎓👨🏼🎓
(a chance to re-reflect)🤔🙇🏻
I value education, though I didn’t have the opportunity or encouragement to go to university for various reasons. That’s a story for another time. Looking back, though, I believe those experiences shaped who I am today.
As I grew older and moved past the typical university age, my desire to learn remained strong. Instead, I gained practical experience and followed my interests outside the classroom. I learned how to balance family life with earning a living.
At 66, I sometimes wish I had a degree📜, especially when I’m surrounded by academics, graduates, and students.
𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔.🤝
👀Recently, I read a post on a business platform which read:
“𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴…
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦.
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦:
𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺. 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 (𝘪𝘵’𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯)
𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥… 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘵?”
At first, I wasn’t sure how to respond, but I commented:
“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵; 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.”
To me, fulfilment means finding meaning and satisfaction every day; not just through achievements or possessions, but by learning new things, building good relationships, and helping others.
𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆, I feel fulfilled when I help a friend or a stranger in any way I can. Mostly, it is giving them my time by listening to their stories and gaining insights into their worldviews. I love volunteering at my church and writing to share the message that inspires and motivates my life, hoping it will help one person or many. These moments give me a sense of purpose and reward that goes beyond money or status.
However, I view the decision to invest significant time and money in a degree as a personal choice. The reasons behind this choice are wide and varied, and open to debate.
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲, 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆, “𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺.” That’s a positive, ambitious view—and for many, higher education does open doors to good jobs and financial security. 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘺. Some fields, such as technology, business, and healthcare, offer clearer job prospects. Other subjects may offer benefits that are less obvious but just as valuable in the long run.
𝗜𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀, formal qualifications are essential for professions such as teachers, physicians, nurses, scientists, neurosurgeons, astronauts, and engineers. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴.
In other fields, spending years and a lot of money on a degree often means supporting universities that now run much like big businesses. With the cost of tuition and living on the rise, it’s fair to ask if you’ll get your money’s worth. Many people feel they have to pick subjects that promise jobs and good pay.
Non-vocational degrees like philosophy, history, or sociology teach valuable skills such as deep thinking, research, communication, and collaboration. They offer insights into different perspectives and can fuel a passion for learning. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 ‘𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴’ 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.
𝗜’𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸｡ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻?
