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Thursday, May 13, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION
A
s a child, I assumed I would
be a much more interesting
college student than I really
am. I thought life would be full of
swashbuckling
adventures
and
huge declarations of love — with
a few musical numbers thrown in,
of course. Now, I view existence
differently: I’ve fallen in love with
the mundanity and meaninglessness
of the world around me.
I don’t dislike having a “boring”
life — I value tranquility. The
moments I remember are the quiet
ones: watching the clouds drift by,
trading hesitant laughs with soon-
to-be-not-strangers and gazing out
the window on long drives with
my mother. I expect my “future” to
become more boring: I’ll work a
mediocre nine-to-five job to support
myself, take my dog for walks and
read. Genuinely, I can’t wait.
As I grow older and days slip by
at startling speeds, I can’t help but
notice how my life is, for lack of a
better word, unremarkable. This
seems especially true when I speak
to my friends, who all effortlessly bag
internships, maintain their 4.0 grade
point averages and travel voraciously
around the world — all of which
is faithfully documented on social
media. I suppose it makes sense;
the communities many of us come
from are filled with expectations of
medical school, McMansions and
the (false) meritocracy. It prides the
fruits of “productivity” above all else.
I would be considered a failure by
any of these standards — I haven’t
given my parents much to brag about.
However, I don’t think of myself
as a failure, and I don’t think of
anyone as a failure. Recently, I’ve
begun reading basic philosophy. I
know, another classic college kid
trying to philosophize their way
out of existential dilemmas while
having fake-deep conversations in
their residence hall room. But hear
me out: I refuse to ascribe meaning
and purpose to existence.
Nihilism,
absurdism
and
existentialism are three similar
schools of thought you might be
familiar with. They all operate
under the same basic principle —
that life has no meaning — but have
notable differences. As someone
who has anxiety, embracing the
meaningless and the mundane
was the kindest thing I could do
for myself. I used to spend nights
awake agonizing about the past,
being anxious about the future I felt
locked into and figuring out how
to finish the puzzle of what I was
supposed to be. Especially during
the pandemic, when my world
became confined to my residence
hall room, I felt so overwhelmed by
anxiety that my hands often shook
with fear. Put simply, I needed
to “touch grass” to be reminded
of my insignificance. Thus, after
a breaking point, I decided to
reevaluate my worldview.
After
researching
different
schools of thought, nihilism, which
says that existence is completely
meaningless and therefore futile,
seemed like the obvious choice
for further research. However,
upon discovering that all three
philosophies are also known for
their lack of societally accepted
“morality,” I felt lost again. As much
as I wanted to abandon all concern
for the conventions of societal
existence, I was hesitant to fully
accept these philosophies. I believe
in the importance of treating others
with kindness and a general concept
of socially accepted “morality” —
whatever that could mean.
L
ike many American students,
I grew up being told by
my parents that attending
college was not optional — it was
mandatory. Because of this, I had
no plan B for what to do after high
school. My parents believed in
the power of education to serve as
a vessel of social mobility and to
provide me and my siblings with a
more fulfilling life than we would
have otherwise had. The question
of whether college is still worth it,
especially with the rise in student
debt and increasing tuition costs, is
hotly debated. After a few minutes
of scrolling through any social media
platform, you will find an abundance
of day traders, entrepreneurs and
influencers claiming that college
is a waste of time. Even Elon
Musk has questioned whether the
workforce needs college graduates.
As a recent college graduate who
has often contemplated the value
of my University of Michigan
undergraduate
degree,
I
can
confidently answer that yes, college
is still worth it.
While there are people like
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark
Zuckerberg who have led extremely
successful careers without earning
a college degree, their stories are
exceptions to the rule. For the
average person, earning a college
degree,
including
a
two-year
degree, results in higher annual
earnings, a lower chance of being
unemployed, a lower chance of
living in poverty and higher job
satisfaction compared to those
with no postsecondary education.
Additionally, the median annual
earnings has continued to climb
for people with Bachelor’s degrees,
while
those
without
are
not
experiencing these increases.
Of course, there are people who
have been financially successful
without going to college, but if the
pandemic economy and the Great
Recession
taught
us
anything,
it’s how insecure the job market
is. While business ventures may
fall apart, a college degree never
expires. Whether it is ethical to judge
someone’s abilities or intellect based
on a college degree is a separate
issue. From an economic standpoint,
a college education can be one of
the greatest investments a person
makes. There are caveats, including
the long-term return-on-investment
when
high
student
debts
are
considered, but overall, there is still
clear evidence that a college degree
is worth it.
The financial benefits of a
college degree are not the only
things that make college worth
it. We often treat college as a
means to an end — typically a
high-paying job — but there is so
much more we can take away from
the experience. College provides
an abundance of opportunities
that give us new passions, new
skills and new perspectives. Clubs,
Fraternity & Sorority Life and
on-campus job opportunities give
students the ability to explore
new and varied interests in a way
they wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
Student organizations can serve
as creative outlets, opportunities
for humanitarian activities and
resources for developing skills that
are vital in and out of the workforce.
The skills we learn and develop
in college are necessary for every
aspect of life. Embedded in college
curriculums are the coursework
and projects which provide tools
that help us navigate the world.
Though I hated each and every
one of the presentations I had to
give in front of a lecture hall filled
with my peers, I developed the
ability to effectively communicate
big ideas concisely to a variety of
audiences. Even though group
projects are usually dreaded, they
provide the perfect opportunity
to progress our ability to work
with others and manage multiple
tasks
simultaneously.
The
exorbitant amount of reading
and writing that is required for
many classes expands our ability
to problem solve, think critically
and analytically and identify the
main points of an argument. If
any of those sound like lines from
a job posting, it’s because those are
the skills employers want and that
colleges provide.
Nothing matters, hopefully
Yes, college is still worth it
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THEODORA VORIAS | OPINION COLUMNIST
MEERA KUMAR | OPINION COLUMNIST
Theodora Vorias is an Opinion Columnist
and can be reached at tvorias@umich.edu.
Meera Kumar is an Opinion Columnist
and can be reached at kmeera@umich.edu.
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