What am I doing back here again!?
Three reasons why we should not go back to university!
MICHAEL SILICZ, STAFF
Ah, September, everyone’s favourite month of the year. And what’s not to love? The leaves start changing colour, the geese start fleeing south, and the wind starts to get chilly. But most important of all, September means it’s time to head back to school.
It’s at exactly this time of year that we students ponder the same eternal question we’ve been struggling with since kindergarten: why am I returning for another year of school?
The bottom line is that we should not go back to school at all! There are three simple reasons why we should not go return. First, it is better to work and gain real life experience, rather than learn useless theory at a university. Second, the amount of money one pays for university would be better invested elsewhere. And finally, university is just a way for people to extend their adolescence without responsibilities.
To begin, the tragic truth is that it makes more sense to work and gain practical experience rather than go to university. How many times have you gone to apply for a job where you are asked for your university credentials? That’s right . . . none! Most of the jobs people 18-24 end up working require absolutely no university education. Even a high school diploma ends up overqualifying most of us for the jobs we hold. Jobs in the hospitality, retail and labour industries rarely, if ever, require someone to be well-versed with an education. By the time we graduate and can begin looking for the dream job, chances are someone who simply worked in the field and gained experience instead of going to school has already filled it. Worse, other institutions like Red River, which are often scoffed upon by those at the U of M, end up placing their grads (who graduate faster and with less debt) into jobs in their field that earn them practical and relevant experience. When was the last time an arts or science faculty actively helped its graduates find a job?
Next, it is clear that university is not a prudent choice in pure economic terms. Is university really worth the investment of time, effort and money? Do we really learn anything in university that is of any relevance outside of academia? I’m sure the average history major’s knowledge of Lenin’s theory on imperialism comes in real handy when they serve people coffee and donuts at Tim Hortons. Simply put, a university education does not guarantee you a high-paying job with a corporate credit card.
Instead, investing the cost of your education at a young age in a RRSP, or using that same money to start your own business and pursue dreams outside of university, both represent far safer investments than an arts or science degree. Even the vocational faculties that do promise a higher income — medicine, law, dentistry, etc., all require a person to invest countless dollars and years into university before they can be considered. That money could easily be better spent, and that time could easily be afforded to better, more practical purposes. As Matt Damon’s character pointed out correctly in Good Will Hunting, “you wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck-fifty in late charges at the public library.”
Finally, the biggest reason we shouldn’t return to university is so that we finally grow up. The real reason most students return to school year after yesar is to justify a lifestyle of debauchery that would be unacceptable of any professional in the working world. Essentially, university has become an extension of high school, where most students party all the time and justify it with the “stress” associated with their university workload. In reality, if many students at the U of M actually did go out and work in practical jobs that gave them experience, there would be little time to party, let alone any condolence for such activity by serious employers. Until students are ready to grow up, there will always be a home for them at Canadian universities. We are lured to the U of M under the auspices that school is good for us and that it is a requirement for advancement in our society. When will we grow up and realize this is not really the case?
Michael Silicz is the comment editor of the Manitoban, and is a student of law and political studies.
