I Don't Need Your Piece of Paper

I'm going to start by saying that this blog is not meant to minimize, or lessen the accomplishments of others.  I have many friends who went to college, completed the courses, and now have degrees, and I hold nothing against them.  Rather, I applaud them for sticking it out and following through on what they know is right for them.  It is, however, meant to express my opinion of people who are closed-minded to the point of fascism about college degrees.
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I realize that we live in a society of forward-thinkers, big business, huge industries, and stocks and bonds.  But we also live in a country where the economy is going to pot because of the corruption of our governing officials.  I won't say "government" as a whole, because I believe the structure, as laid out by our founding fathers, is sound.  But I won't balk at saying "government officials" because at some point in the last forty or fifty years being an elected official transformed from "public service" to "lip service", from "the greater good of the people" to "the greater good of my wallet." I make that sweeping generalization, knowing I'm going to tick people off...knowing that there are men and women out there who represent their constituents with integrity, but also knowing that, no matter the party, most of our governing officials are compromising their stance on issues that got them elected, or are completely corrupt.  That's the plain truth.  But I didn't set out to write about the government.

We live in a society today where unemployment is up, the stock market is down, and the economy is in the crapper.  In 2008, we imported $2.5 trillion, while we only exported $1.7 trillion, (that's an $800 billion dollar deficit).  That deficit has only increased since then, which is why we're in such debt.  And because we import far more than we export, we have watched the value of the dollar - once the strongest currency in the entire world - wither.  We have watched the liquid assets of our great nation dry to nothingness so that our government has borrowed money from other countries in order to bail out the insurance industry, the health care industry, the automobile industry.  We have watched the gold in our coffers become as worthless as clay. Our consumerism is catapulting us toward another Great Depression.  I won't lay blame on any one person, or party, or decision for the dissolution of the American dollar, and thereby the American Powerhouse Reagan fought so hard to rebuild in the 80's.

With all of this recession, unemployment, and outsourcing, America's citizens find themselves in the worst possible job market.  There aren't enough jobs to go around now, and each year millions upon millions of kids country-wide graduate college and, with their diplomas in hand, begin the job hunt in an already impossible market pool, flooded with more experienced men and women who were just downsized by their previous employers because of budget cuts or outsourcing or some other reason.  Employers cling to this impetus that college degrees are a necessity for employment, even for a basement-level employee who passes out the mail and gets everyone their coffee.

They say: "You must have this sheet of paper from an accredited university, sealed and signed by the correct officials, stating that you successfully completed 120 hours of classes, spent tens of thousands of dollars over the course of four or five years, during which time you sat through classes, memorized facts for tests, then promptly forgot them when they were no longer necessary in order for you to complete the course."

And you know what?  If you aspire to work in Law, the Medical Field, Education, or Corporate America, I can understand that as a prerequisite.  If I ever needed a lawyer, I'd want to know he knew what he was doing when he defended me.  But for those of us who don't work in those industries, it seems preposterous.  Especially to people like me, who didn't finish because, believe it or not, God didn't want me to.  That might seem crazy to some people, but it's true.  I went for three semesters, and I was ABSOLUTELY and COMPLETELY miserable during the last one because I knew I wasn't supposed to be there.  God made sure that my classes and my professors were horrible.  Then when He told me to go home that time, I listened, and within five months He provided the job He wanted me to have at the place I've been employed for 9.5 years. 

Does the fact that I didn't graduate college minimize my intelligence?  Does the fact that I didn't sit through 120+ hours of classes mean that I'm suddenly not smart anymore?  Does it reduce my IQ?  I don't think so - in fact, I know it doesn't.  I am neither smarter nor stupider than I was when I graduated high school eleven years ago.  My IQ didn't change.  I have added to my knowledge base; I just didn't add information learned in a college lecture hall.  I added practical understanding of life, of my job, of musical instruments and the Word of God.

And what bothers me is that people who tried college and didn't finish, not because they weren't smart enough to, but because they didn't feel they were supposed to be there, are treated as inferior beings by people who consider a college degree to be some sort of humanizing standard in the same way that Hitler held onto his qualifications of the Aryan Brotherhood.  Hitler said, "You're only worth my time if you're blond-haired, blue-eyed, non-Jew, non-Handicapped, non-Black, etc.  If you don't fit those criteria, you are less than human."  And there are people in the world today who look at me, or at people like me who don't have a college degree, and say, "You are only worth my time if you've sat through 120 hours of class, if you spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on education, if have a piece of paper with a seal and a signature stating you graduated from a university.  If you fit those criteria, you are less than human."

And you know what?  It's a stinking pile of B.S.  Hard work, experience, practical application, and a positive attitude are just as important as that framed piece of paper hanging in people's offices.  In fact, I could argue that in some cases those attributes are more important. I have met several people in my life who have gone to college, gotten the degree, and then had no idea how to apply what they'd learned once they had a job. 

Theoretical knowledge is worthless until it is put to practical application. Just because a person has a degree in business management, does not mean that he will be capable of managing people, much less running a company.  Just because a person has a degree in communications or restaurant hospitality or any other possible subject, does not mean that she will be successful in a real work environment.  If a person is not willing to work hard, to put in the hours, to adjust and problem-solve in the moment, to apply their knowledge in a way that doesn't alienate their co-workers or subordinates, there isn't a diploma in the world that can make them an asset to their employer.

It used to be that a man would work his way up, could start sacking groceries in high school and one day find himself managing the entire store if that's what he wanted.  Nowadays, that is not the case.  Most times that boy sacking groceries for minimum wage won't get advanced any farther than, perhaps, head cashier or deli manager.  While the company hires in some guy who spent four years at a university and has never once actually held the positions he's now poised to manage. And I think it's a dirty, rotten shame. 

And I think that people who judge others by their possession or lack of a college degree are as bigoted as the Nazis were about the Jews, or the KKK were about African Americans, or McCarthy and his minions were about anyone who appeared to be or associate with a Russian.

So, to all those people who look at me as worthless or unintelligent or less human because I don't have a college diploma, I have only this to say:

If my lack of a degree means that I'm not worth your time and if you can't respect me as a person without that signed, sealed piece of paper, you're a fool, and I honestly feel sorry for you.  I don't need your piece of paper to define me, but it's apparent that you need it to define yourself.