Although there was a general assumption when I was in high school and college that I’d wind up in some kind of graduate school or another, I stopped with the formal schooling (as distinct from getting an education) with my BA.
I did it for a couple of reasons:
- Nothing that I’d want to get an MA or Ph.D. in – Linguistics, History, German, Writing – would enhance my career, or at least not to the point that there’d be a return on investment.
- I have absolutely no interest in a business degree.
- I’m not sure that I could find anyplace nearby to get the MA in my field; there are less than 10 places in the country to get a BA in anything like my field, and maybe 3-4 that I know of on the grad level.
- And if I did? Not only would getting an advanced degree in my current vocational field – User Experience – have little to no return on investment, it might actually slow me down.
So unless I hit the powerball – which might lead me to a design-your-own “Masters” in German, writing, history and filmmmaking from whatever institution that’d let me put it together – I strongly doubt you’ll see me darken the door of a grad school, ever.
But if this were closer than Boulder, I could see myself changing my mind.
Great points, Mitch. I don’t even have an AA, but I believe that I’ve done OK. Of course, there are no degree programs for sales people. There are successful sales people that believe their path to success is so unique, that they write books, establish training courses, etc. but even if they were all combined, they would not create a degree path.
Now, if I won the PowerBall, I would strongly consider buying the Red Star, just to change it into a more balanced format, then delight in watching the likes of Lori Sturdevant, Jon Tevlin, Baird Helgeson and the rest of the left wing “journalists” walking out with copy paper boxes filled with their stuff after I fired them. But, my biggest goal would be to support so many conservative causes and candidates, that the left wing stooges would refer to me as “that evil Bosshoss429.” Ah! The thought of being able to do that, sends a tingle up my leg!
I have a Ph.D. in EE and when I started it was actually too much and got me rejected from a fair number of jobs as “too academic” and “won’t be product focused”. These days chips have gotten so complex that it isn’t an issue anymore. So I know where you’re coming from, Mitch. Unlike the educrats, I fully recognize that choosing the right level of education is important.
Not that I’d change what I did. I had a ton of fun and a lot of good experiences in grad school with internships and whatnot.
The “Humor Research Lab”? Have I mis-navigated my way to the Onion?
I lived in and around Boulder for over a decade, and suffice it to say that hopefully something works out to give the average Boulderite a sense of humor. They take themselves way too seriously out there. :^)