We are fed the concept that having a shiny college degree is the only air ticket that can land us a job. The only golden pass that can open doors to opportunities.
So I did, as I joined an Engineering College hoping to learn everything I need to become a Software Engineer - something I wanted to become since 9th grade.
College was slowing me down
However, just two semesters down the line, I realized something - " it's just going to slow me down." Memorizing differential equations and super long formulas from Physics textbook wasn't going to take me anywhere close to becoming a Software Engineer.
It was around that time, I took an online coding bootcamp and learned how to write code professionally. Soon after that, I got an internship from a local tech startup where I worked as an intern on a small part of a project.
Reflecting back at the internship, I unlearned another huge misconception we have been fed throughout our life. What I realized was that Education is important but that doesn't have to come from a college degree.
Internet is the new university
If you're looking at college as an investment for your education or your future, then there is a better option. It has worked wonders for me and it's called the Internet. If you have a device that has access to the internet, you essentially have access to the entire human knowledge.
Just leverage the power of the internet to self-educate yourself by learning what interests you. That's how you do what you love for the rest of your life, and make a living out of it. That's how I'm now a Software Engineer (self-proclaimed of course), selling my services to clients from all around the world and making a living out of it. And all of that, without a college degree.
Why not having a degree is okay
In the end, having or not having a degree should matter to you and the work you put in for your clients or your employer's business or whatever it is. As long as you bring the same value that a college graduate would, I don't think having a degree should matter. I frequently get to see and hear from my clients how their business has made a great impact on their users. That's the validation for me. That's what makes me have a good night's sleep. That's what motivates me to wake up the next morning and help another client build their business empire.
Does that mean you should drop out?
Dropping out of college doesn't mean we stop learning. Internet has clearly democratized education. So the question now becomes, how self-disciplined are we? How much effort are we willing to put into self-educating ourselves? Do we have enough interest and energy that can drive us into diving deep into a topic? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves before making the big move.