Is a degree necessary for success

Education is a necessary tool to succeed in the society we live in, but what is education? Does it mean going to school, an institution? In a manner of speaking, yes. People are made to believe that not having a higher education is a disadvantage and one cannot reach his/her true potential. Is this true? With my experience and in my opinion no. I have seen many people including friends and family who became very successful going to school or having a formal education and those who never went to school. I think it all depends on the way we go about educating ourselves.

Don’t get me wrong, a higher education is necessary in certain fields like medicine, nursing, engineering, etc. and there is a place for these professions. Even if you may need to go to "School" for these professions, a lot can be done these days online. I feel it is unfortunate that people go to school because they think to have to or that it is the only path and the society we live in lets us believe that a formal degree is the only true key to success. It is sometimes sad that people look down on those that do not have this formal education. The good news is that there seem to be a change with new technology advancements. In my humble opinion, technically, we should use both if possible. Both? Yes, a formal education, a trade, our experience in life and communication with people.

Tell me, how many people do you know with degrees without a job? How many people spend 3, 4, 5 or more years to get a bachelor, masters or a doctorate degree and yet can’t find a job? And even worse hate their current jobs or even their studies. How many people do you know that don’t have even a high school diploma but yet employ people smarter than they are “intellectually”.

Technically, a formal education is important but unfortunately education is not always learning. What? Yes, I have met a lot of “educated people” who stopped learning immediately after school and truth be told, most of them are not “successful”. So, what is success? That should be for another article. Do you ever wonder why people with job experiences get better jobs than those with only diplomas?

Ok, we said that formal education is not always learning. Learning should be a continuous life process, learning is progress. Most of the time in school, if you fail once or twice, you are considered to be incapable of learning that profession, subject…... and you are forced to change and do something else you don’t necessarily like because an institution said that you were not good enough at a given time. Unfortunately, I have been there.

The key, or one of the keys that separates a successful person is that when a successful person fails, he permits himself/herself to try again and again and controls his/her destiny, not any institution or a diploma. A formal education may be necessary but unfortunately it is very limited.

Someone I know with a good education, an intelligent man, a father, a husband lost his job after many years of service to a company. Unfortunately, losing his job, his status revolved around his education. His education was his identity. Undoubtedly, this man did the right thing in the eyes of the society till the society didn’t have any use for his service. So, what does he fall back on? Wisely, I learnt that a diploma does not mean success and security if we limit ourselves to its approbation.

So, what do you think? Personally, I think I am fortunate to be able to learn and share my thoughts and experiences with this wonderful and limitless resource called the internet. So, don’t limit yourself to a school degree, use what you have at your disposition and most importantly, it is never too late to learn. Hope this was helpful. Comment and share your opinion if you agree or disagree.

Take care.