4

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

Design by Madison Grosvenor

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at 

the University of Michigan since 1890.

 MARY ROLFES
Editorial Page Editor

Julian Barnard
Zack Blumberg
Brittany Bowman
Elizabeth Cook

Brandon Cowit
Jess D’Agostino
Andrew Gerace
Jessie Mitchell

Mary Rolfes

Gabrijela Skoko
Jack Tumoowsky

Joel Weiner

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

CALDER LEWIS

Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

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.

 Read more at michigandaily.com
 Read more at michigandaily.com

